By Robert Scucci
| Revealed
I’ve been working into plenty of unintended film pairings these days, and 2025’s Ballad of a Small Participant makes for the right companion piece to 2019’s Adam Sandler-starring Uncut Gems. On this movie, Brendan Reilly’s (Colin Farrell) conduct mirrors the identical sort of anxiety-inducing playing spiral that Sandler’s Howard Ratner faces. As an alternative of sports activities betting, we’re in Macau throwing fingers at baccarat, with equally disastrous outcomes.
Ballad of a Small Participant holds its personal due to its supernatural undercurrent, implying that streaks of unhealthy luck and the acts of desperation that comply with are manifestations of hungry ghosts who insatiably feed on greed and opulence. These ghosts function with no regard for the collateral harm left within the wake of the more and more reckless choices made by their human counterparts, making the entire thing really feel just like the sort of waking nightmare you’d count on after shedding lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} and nonetheless refusing to surrender chasing the excessive of profitable huge.
Can’t Cease, Gained’t Cease
Persistent gamblers usually cling to their very own set of superstitions to set off a scorching streak. Brendan Reilly, for instance, gained’t play baccarat with out his fortunate yellow gloves, despite the fact that he’s already misplaced practically seven figures he both embezzled from his purchasers again within the UK or racked up from mortgage sharks in Macau whereas posing as Lord Doyle, a rich aristocrat who all the time has his sights set on the finer issues in life.
Bouncing between penthouse suites, stuffing his face with five-star delicacies, and washing it down with costly champagne, Brendan finds himself in a decent spot when his debtors, and the casinos they’re related to, catch clever to his sport. They seek advice from him because the white ghost, a supernatural entity fueled by greed and need. His habits lastly meet up with him when UK investigator Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton) tracks him down, demanding he return the lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} he has stolen, not figuring out that his current monetary standing is much worse than she might ever presumably think about.
Brendan has a unique thought for navigating his more and more dire scenario, one which entails his fledgling relationship with credit score dealer Dao Ming (Fala Chen) and the current trauma she endured when considered one of her purchasers dedicated suicide after failing to repay his money owed. Unable to operate with out the push of his subsequent huge rating, Brendan grows more and more hedonistic, incapable of breaking the cycle that can both land him in jail or ship him to an early grave.
An Exceedingly Fashionable Downward Spiral
Colin Farrell’s portrayal of a determined man who doesn’t know when to cease mirrors Sandler’s efficiency in Uncut Gems whereas staying firmly in its personal lane. It’s the identical character sort in a wildly totally different setting. Uncut Gems thrives on New York Metropolis grit, whereas Ballad of a Small Participant luxuriates in penthouse suites, colourful on line casino flooring, and elaborate Chinese language structure.
What actually separates the 2 movies is how greed’s urge for food is literalized by means of consumption in Ballad of a Small Participant. Brendan is not only hungry for his subsequent huge win. He’s making an attempt to fill the bottomless pit that’s his soul with wealthy meals, the best spirits, and no matter extra he can seize. When he’s up, he can not pump the brakes. When he crashes, his desperation turns into a drive of nature as a result of quitting isn’t an choice in his thoughts. He believes the world is there for his taking, by no means absolutely greedy how far he’s fallen off the sting.
To bear witness to 1 man’s sluggish descent as his extreme habits drain the sunshine from his eyes, you possibly can stream Ballad of a Small Participant on Netflix. If you wish to hold the nervousness going, Uncut Gems is ready on Max.