Ballad of a Small Player has debuted with an underwhelming Rotten Tomatoes score. Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave), his new film stars Colin Farrell as a high-stakes gambler hiding out in Macau who, as his past mistakes and mounting debts catch up with him, crosses paths with a kindred spirit who may hold the key to his redemption.

Led by Colin Farrell, the cast also includes Oscar winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), Fala Chen, Deanie Ip, BAFTA nominee Alex Jennings, Jason Tobin, Adrienne Lau, Alan K. Chang, and Margaret Cheung. Ballad of a Small Player‘s script was written by Rowan Joffé, co-writer of 28 Weeks Later, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Lawrence Osborne.

Following its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and recent screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Ballad of a Small Player has debuted with a 65% score from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie only has 17 reviews at the time of writing, so its score should fluctuate as more are published.

Ballad of a Small Player will have a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 15 and in the United Kingdom on October 17, before streaming on Netflix on October 29, so it won’t have an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes until then.

What Ballad Of A Small Player’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Means For The Movie

On the surface, Ballad of a Small Player‘s Rotten Tomatoes score means that its reviews are mostly positive. Many critics are praising Colin Farrell’s performance as daring and magnetic, and Edward Berger’s direction as stylish and trippy. However, there is a significant number of detractors who argue that the film is shallow, ultimately lacking the emotional depth to match its flashy allure.

As a result, its score is somewhat underwhelming, considering the stellar scores for Edward Berger’s previous two films, Conclave (93%) and All Quiet on the Western Front (90%), which were nominated for 17 Academy Awards combined, winning five. Colin Farrell also has an Oscar nomination for The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), which created a fair amount of Oscar buzz for their collaboration on Ballad of a Small Player.

Our Take On Ballad Of A Small Player’s Rotten Tomatoes Score

With a slightly underwhelming score, this could end up killing some of the Oscar buzz for Ballad of a Small Player. While Colin Farrell’s intense and unhinged performance could easily earn him another nomination, it seems unlikely that Ballad of a Small Player earns Oscar nods nearing the double digits, as did All Quiet on the Western Front and Conclave.