Colin Farrell barely needs to leave a baccarat table for trouble to find him in Ballad of a Small Player. Released in 2025, the film uses Macau’s expensive hotels and gaming rooms as the setting for a man whose carefully maintained identity is beginning to collapse.
It is a useful starting point for anyone looking beyond familiar choices such as Ocean’s Eleven or Casino Royale. Several more recent films have approached the same setting differently, replacing elaborate robberies and secret agents with uncomfortable character studies, strange abilities and questions about personal responsibility.
Anyone familiar with baccarat through an online casino will recognise the basic game in Ballad of a Small Player, but the cards are only part of the drama. The tension comes from watching someone continue long after he has lost control of everything surrounding the table.
Ballad of a Small Player puts Colin Farrell under pressure
Directed by Edward Berger, Ballad of a Small Player stars Farrell as Lord Doyle, an Englishman spending his remaining resources in Macau. His title and expensive surroundings suggest security, but his debts and concealed past tell another story.
Doyle meets Dao Ming, played by Fala Chen, a casino employee who appears to offer a possible escape. Their connection introduces uncertainty into a story already built around a character who cannot be taken entirely at his word.
The film adapts Lawrence Osborne’s novel and gives baccarat a central place in Doyle’s daily existence. He returns to the tables because they allow him to postpone dealing with everything outside them. Another hand provides another reason to stay.
Macau gives that behaviour a convincing setting. The gaming rooms promise comfort and personal attention, while Doyle’s position becomes increasingly precarious. His surroundings remain polished even as his options narrow.
Farrell’s performance makes this a different viewing experience from a conventional caper. There is little pleasure in watching a brilliant plan come together. Instead, the interest lies in identifying what Doyle is hiding and how long he can maintain the performance.
It is the strongest recent choice for viewers who want the venue to shape the entire story rather than provide an impressive location for one sequence.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar takes a stranger route
Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, released in 2023, approaches the gaming table through fantasy.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays Henry Sugar, a wealthy man who learns about a person capable of seeing without using his eyes. Henry recognises the possible advantage at cards and commits himself to acquiring the same extraordinary skill.
The premise comes from Roald Dahl, and Anderson presents it through deliberately theatrical filmmaking. Sets change in full view, performers address the camera and narration carries much of the action. The artificial presentation suits a story that never asks viewers to mistake its central ability for something possible.
Henry initially treats his discovery as a financial opportunity. Once he can obtain what he wants, however, the story becomes concerned with what he should do next.
That change separates it from films built around cheating or outsmarting security. The mechanics of winning eventually become less interesting than Henry’s response to having an overwhelming advantage.
At roughly 40 minutes, it is also a much shorter commitment than the other films here. Its elaborate staging and quick narration make it a suitable choice for an evening when a full-length thriller feels excessive.
The casino scenes belong to a larger moral fable, so viewers expecting a realistic account of professional card play should choose something else.
The Card Counter makes routine unsettling
Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter, released in 2021, follows William Tell, played by Oscar Isaac, through an existence organised around repetition.
Tell travels between casinos and anonymous hotels, keeping his surroundings controlled and his interactions limited. His discipline initially appears to explain his success at the tables. Gradually, it becomes clear that the routine is also a way of containing memories he cannot escape.
His life changes when he meets Cirk, a young man played by Tye Sheridan who wants revenge against a military figure connected to their past. Tiffany Haddish plays La Linda, who offers Tell a route into higher-stakes poker.
The distinction between games matters. Tell’s background includes blackjack card counting, but poker becomes important to his subsequent plans. These are different forms of play, and the film uses them within a story about guilt rather than presenting a general lesson in winning.
Schrader’s rooms are often functional and airless. They lack the celebratory atmosphere associated with glamorous screen portrayals of Las Vegas. Moving on to another venue changes the address without necessarily changing Tell’s life.
Isaac’s restrained performance suits that approach. Much of the tension comes from small interruptions to his composure, particularly when Cirk threatens the emotional distance Tell has worked to maintain.
This is the darkest selection of the three. Its military backstory is disturbing, and viewers looking for a light evening of clever disguises and surprise reveals are unlikely to find it here.
The classics still provide useful contrasts
Ocean’s Eleven remains an appealing alternative because it treats a casino as a problem to be solved. Danny Ocean’s team studies systems, routines and vulnerabilities, with the pleasure coming from seeing how individual preparations connect.
Casino Royale uses its poker tournament differently. The table becomes a contest between Bond and Le Chiffre, giving the film a central confrontation that requires patience as well as action.
Martin Scorsese’s Casino takes the broadest view. Its interest extends beyond individual wagers into management, organised crime and the struggle to control a profitable business.
Those older films help explain what the newer selections offer. Ballad of a Small Player concentrates on a man running out of options. Henry Sugar imagines what happens after winning becomes easy. The Card Counter follows someone whose disciplined behaviour cannot protect him against his past.
For a recent film with the gaming room at the centre, start with Farrell in Macau. Choose Henry Sugar for something brief and unusual, or The Card Counter for a slower, more troubling drama. Each gives the table a different purpose, and each leaves its most important questions hanging after the cards have been dealt.
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