Pick of the week
Ballad of a Small Player
After Conclave proved to be a ludicrous (and extraordinarily well-timed) piece of Oscar bait, all eyes were on director Edward Berger to see what he’d do next. And what he did was Ballad of a Small Player, which feels like the exact opposite of Conclave. A sweaty, vibrant, Macau-set fever dream of a thriller, it sees Colin Farrell hamming it up beyond all comprehension as an aristocratic English gambler scrambling to pay off his debts while trying to shake off Tilda Swinton, playing a woman who knows his true identity. While the results aren’t quite as satisfying as Conclave, it’s nevertheless very exciting to see a director as elegant as Berger turn his hand to something so trashy. Stuart Heritage
Wednesday 29 October, Netflix
