By skyforbes 
The trailer and the film are set in the glitzy and shiny world of Macau Casinos. However, it’s the story of a man who made a lot of bad decisions and is now looking for personal and financial redemption. I think it’s relatable to a lot of people.
The trailer begins with the stunning Macao night city skyline. You hear the voiceover of Lord Doyle (Collin Farrell), “Macao! Gambling capital of the universe.”
You see him looking up at a casino. He threw away his cigarette and walked inside.
It also cuts to a money counter with its satisfying bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! sound.
“Here, card games….”
It cuts to a gambling table. Hands flip two cards — 5 of clubs and 2 of hearts. I don’t know how to interpret a card game, but a group of players celebrated at the table like they won a championship.
“…can change your life, in an instant.”
It cuts to a luxury penthouse. It’s daytime. You see Doyle looking over the city skyline from his floor-to-ceiling glass walls as he puts on a suit and tie.
“My name is Doyle, Lord Doyle.”
It cuts to Doyle playing with an old woman. The woman grabbed all the chips. Doyle checked his wallet; there are only a few bills left.
But then….
“Mr. Riley,” you hear the voice of a woman.
Doyle looked behind him, a camera FLASHES on his face as you hear the CLICK of a camera.
“You stole a considerable amount of money from our client,” Cynthia (Tilda Swinton) said. She also pushed forward on the table a criminal record with the picture of Doyle.
Doyle sneered, looking at Cynthia.
It cuts to the parking lot. He followed her waking out. “I made some mistakes,” Doyle said. “Who hasn’t’?”
“You have 24 hours,” Cynthia told him.
As Cynthia walked away, Doyle said, “I’m not a criminal.”
“You stole that money from a helpless old woman,” Cynthia told him.
Tears now formed in Doyle’s eyes. This is why I wrote about this. It’s relatable. Many of us have been down in life financially. Hopefully, you’re not like Doyle here. I think he’s a scammer who scammed an old woman with a lot of money, her entire life savings. He lives like a ‘Lord’ in Macao, but he’s actually hiding from the authorities.
He went into an apartment to meet Dao Ming (Fala Chen). Upon opening the door, she immediately said, “No more credit.”
Doyle blocked her from closing the door, “Look! I find myself in a bit of a bite.”
Dao stared at him, but you could feel there was some concern in her eyes.
Talking to an old man, the old man told Doyle, “You’re just a nice, working-class, Irish boy, in way over his head.”
Great acting from Collin Farrell. You can see the anxiety and heavy breathing on his face. Also, the old many is wrong. Doyle is not a ‘nice, working-class boy.’ He’s a scammer.
It cuts to a disheveled Doyle, smirking and playing cards in a casino. The problem with Doyle’s approach is that his way of paying off the debt is literally another gamble. As he mentioned in the beginning, card games can win you LIFE-CHANGING money. But LOSING can also cost you a LIFE CHANGE, for the WORSE.
Talking and brooding seaside, Doyle told Dao, “I’m about to win big. I’ll just pay my debt off. I’ll pay yours too.”
Dao smiled back.
Doyle’s big problem is that HE HAS NO CHOICE. Cynthia’s group gave him a 24-hour deadline to win the money back. If he wins, everything is fine. If he loses, as with everything in life, there are CONSEQUENCES. You don’t know the nature of Cynthia’s group. Is it a law firm? Is it the mob? Either way, Doyle stole money from a helpless old woman. That’s a more compelling storyline than stealing money from the mob, which is a cliche at this point. YOU are rooting for Doyle to win so he can pay his debt and presumably get the money back for the old woman.
However….
It cuts to Doyle’s penthouse, eating lobster with his hands, while drinking wine. There’s also a full-on buffet inside his room. Piles of cash on his bed. Doyle lived like a ‘king’ or a ‘Lord’ from his stolen money. Doyle lived in EXCESS.
Back to Cynthia and Doyle’s conversation, Cynthia told him, “What I see is a man beyond any redemption.”
It cuts to Doyle playing cards as a group of Macao locals cheered behind him.
It cuts back to his conversation with Dao outside her apartment. “I still have a soul,” Doyle said.
Doyle is looking for personal, financial, and spiritual redemption.
He also got a dose of what the worst-case scenario looks like.
In his penthouse at night, someone or something fell from the top of a building. Two seconds passed, and you hear a loud…
BA-CRAAAAAASH!
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” a woman screamed.
You hear a car alarm.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
It cuts to Doyle and Dao lying on the bed. “The realm of the hungry ghost,” Dao said.
You see a nighttime parade. People wore masks. There’s also a dragon dance. This could be part of the Moon or Mid-Autumn Festival, which is common in Chinese cultures. It also aligns with the theme of the movie.
“It’s for people driven by greed,” Dao said.
And this is the theme of the film. Doyle lived in excess, not by the money he earned honestly, but by the money he stole from an old woman. And now the ‘ghosts’ are haunting him.
You get a crazy scene. Maybe Doyle is hallucinating, or he took a drug, or something. Inside the bathroom mirror, you see his reflection with an elongated neck like a snake monster. His eyes turned white. His mouth opened wide. It was as black as the night sky.
“ROOOAAAAAARRRRRR!” as Doyle roared at himself in the mirror.
Maybe it’s a metaphor for his anger towards himself.
With tears in his eyes, Doyle told Cynthia, “Just give my one more hand. I can pay you.”
Given that scene, I don’t think Cynthia represents a law firm. Maybe she represents the mob. Law firms don’t loan you money for gambling.
It cuts to Doyle and Dao swimming in the sea. “It’s not too late for you,” Dao told her.
It cuts to Doyle pushing all the stacks of his chips…
All in, Baby!
But an older woman opposite the table told him, “Not so lucky after all, huh?”
You then see Doyle panting hard.
The trailer ends with Doyle saying, “It will take a miracle to change a man like me.”
***Shop***
Shop on Amazon
Insanely Black Custom Wrapping Paper
Buy Me a Coffee
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
(As an Zazzle Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)