You've got to hand it to director Edward Berger: It's impossible to predict where he'll go next. In 2022, the Swiss/Austrian filmmaker won global acclaim — including the Oscar for Best International Feature — for his epic, German-language adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front . His 2024 follow-up, Conclave , would also catch the eye of Oscar, scoring eight nominations and a win for screenwriter Peter Straughan. Yet these two films were wildly different in tone, switching from reverent to cheeky. So, what might we expect from his latest, Ballad of a Small Player?

Adapted from Lawrence Osborne's 2014 novel of the same name, this psychological thriller plunges viewers into the seedy and luxurious world of Macau casinos. There, neon-lit nightlife rolls into regretful mornings

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