Trailer Blitz: Ballad of a Small Player, Keeper, Good Boy, Kiss of the Spider Woman
Time to catch up on this week's movie trailers! Here's a list of films coming to screens soon!
★ “Ballad of a Small Player” Teaser Trailer: Colin Farrell Bets It All as a Doomed Gambler in Edward Berger’s Noir Thriller with Tilda Swinton — In Theaters October 15th, On Netflix October 29th
Here’s something we don’t like to admit, but we must confess: when Colin Farrell first burst onto the scene with 2000’s Tigerland and 2002’s Minority Report, we thought, well, here’s just another pretty face Hollywood was trying to jam down our throats. A flavor of the month with no real substance. Then came Daredevil, Alexander, and, of course, a sex tape scandal—seemingly validating our doubts about Farrell’s staying power. A lightweight James Dean wannabe, we told ourselves.
Cut to 25 years later, and we must come clean: we were absolutely wrong. Colin Farrell just might be one of the best actors of his generation. With each new performance (In Bruges, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Banshees of Inisherin, The North Water, The Penguin, etc.), he continues to peel back yet another layer—proving not just his range, but his longevity in the industry.
We’re now firmly in the Colin Farrell fan club. Team Colin, all the way! And now, fellow Colin F converts, here’s something to get excited about: Farrell has a new movie on the horizon, teaming up with acclaimed German filmmaker Edward Berger. From the looks of its first official teaser trailer, Farrell is stepping into yet another transformative role as a degenerate gambler whose life is about to collapse under the weight of debt and bad choices. It could easily join his growing list of career-defining performances. And after what he pulled off with The Penguin, Farrell swimming through a neon-lit underworld just might be his bag.
In Ballad of a Small Player, a noir-tinged thriller set against the colorful casino nightlife of Macau, Farrell takes a gamble as Lord Doyle, a disgraced lawyer turned professional gambler. He spends his nights chasing luck at the tables and his days drowning in liquor—until his mounting debts and haunted past catch up to him. A chance meeting with Dao Ming (Fala Chen, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire), a mysterious casino employee with secrets of her own, offers him a fragile lifeline. But the arrival of hard-edged investigator Cynthia Blithe (Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton) threatens to expose the truth he’s been running from.
Adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s acclaimed 2014 novel of the same name, the film marks yet another literary leap for Oscar-winning director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave), working from a script by Rowan Joffé (28 Weeks Later, The American).
With a supporting cast including veteran Hong Kong actress Deanie Ip (A Simple Life), Ballad of a Small Player is set to open in select theaters October 15th before arriving on Netflix October 29th. The film will also make its world premiere next month at TIFF.
★ “Keeper” Trailer: Tatiana Maslany’s Anniversary Getaway Turns into a Living Nightmare in Osgood Perkins’ New Horror Film with Rossif Sutherland — In Theaters November 14th
When filmmaker Osgood “Oz” Perkins broke onto the horror scene, he made a notable debut with his cult 2015 atmospheric chiller The Blackcoat's Daughter. The film received generally positive reviews upon release, though it took a few years before landing a distributor in A24. Perkins went on to chip away at the genre with two more horror films before scoring his big break with the 2024 NEON smash hit Longlegs, which cemented his style and voice in horror. And while it’s only been a year since the wild Nicolas Cage–starring serial killer thriller, Perkins has clearly been working non-stop.
Just this past February, Perkins released his Stephen King adaptation The Monkey again for NEON. Now he’s already back with another for the studio, teaming once again with actress Tatiana Maslany, who had a supporting role in The Monkey but here takes the lead. After a shaky start in the business, Perkins seems to be shifting into a confident new phase of his career—one where the brakes are off and the road ahead looks wide open.
In Perkins’s new slow-burning psychological horror Keeper, Maslany stars as Liz, a happily married woman whose romantic getaway soon curdles into a waking nightmare. On an anniversary trip to a remote cabin with her husband, Malcolm (Rossif Sutherland, Orphan: First Kill), Liz looks forward to peace, intimacy, and reconnection—until unsettling cracks begin to appear in their idyllic retreat.
When Malcolm is abruptly called back to the city, Liz is left alone—only to discover the woods hide something ancient and unspeakable. As the cabin’s terrifying secrets surface, survival becomes the only vow that truly matters. The film seemingly unfolds through dual perspectives, with both Maslany and Sutherland providing narration to guide the story. And knowing how Perkins operates, nothing is what it seems, and the tension will only spiral into something increasingly unsettling and disorienting.
Directed by Perkins and written by Nick Lepard (Dangerous Animals), Keeper is set to open in theaters November 14th.
★ “Good Boy” Trailer: A Loyal Dog Battles Malevolent Forces in Ben Leonberg’s Supernatural Horror with Shane Jensen and Larry Fessenden — In Theaters October 3rd
You might think your dog is loyal. You might even believe he’d do anything to protect you from harm. He’s a good boy. But have you ever asked yourself, would your dog be able to ward off evil spirits? Could he defend you from the things that go bump in the night? If so, then he’s a good boy, indeed.
Horror filmmaker Ben Leonberg makes his feature debut with Good Boy, a twisty, spooky thriller told from the point of view of an ordinary canine. More than just a horror movie, it’s a testament to the unshakable bond between humans and their dogs—even when that loyalty is tested by forces beyond the natural world.
The film also stars Leonberg’s own pet dog in the lead role. Some might call that nepotism, but after the pup earned critical acclaim for his performance, it’s clear the casting was anything but a gimmick.
When his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), relocates to a seemingly peaceful farmhouse, Indy the dog begins to sense a disturbing aura lurking within the walls. With Indy sniffing around every corner, malevolent forces stir in the shadows. Strange creaks in the night soon become ominous warnings of something darker moving in. Now, with Todd’s safety in question, his four-legged guardian refuses to roll over and play dead—proving he’s not just man’s best friend, but also man’s last line of defense.
Co-starring Larry Fessenden, Arielle Friedman, Anya Krawcheck, and Stuart Rudin, Good Boy premiered to strong reviews earlier this year at the SXSW Film Festival.
The film also rides the recent wave of horror movies told from unique perspectives. For instance, last year’s slasher gorefest In a Violent Nature unfolded through the POV of a Jason Voorhees–like killer, while earlier this year Steven Soderbergh’s Presence told a ghost story entirely through the perspective of an unseen apparition.
And now, we’re getting a horror movie where the events are seen through a dog’s eyes. Now, that’s what we call a howl of a time!
Good Boy hits theaters October 3rd via IFC Films and will make its streaming debut on Shudder following its theatrical run.
★ “Kiss of the Spider Woman” Trailer: Jennifer Lopez Dazzles as a Golden-Age Screen Siren in Bill Condon’s Political Musical with Diego Luna and Tonatiuh — In Theaters October 10th
Get ready for a Technicolor-soaked musical that’s equal parts old-Hollywood spectacle and razor-sharp political allegory—where dazzling escapism becomes the only cure for brutal oppression. If that sounds like a fever dream of golden-age cinema, you’re exactly on the right track.
This might also feature a role Jennifer Lopez was meant to play: the glamorous Ingrid Luna, a classic Hollywood vixen. She lights up a room. She sings her heart out. She dances her soul away. She even spins a dazzling web of glitz, glamour, and desire. And she might exist only in the mind of a dehumanized prisoner, endlessly retelling her movies to escape the harsh realities of confinement.
Bill Condon’s upcoming musical spectacle Kiss of the Spider Woman, adapted from Terrence McNally’s Tony-winning stage musical (itself based on Manuel Puig’s acclaimed novel), stars Andor’s Diego Luna as Valentín, a political prisoner fighting a ruthless dictatorship from behind bars. He shares a cell with Molina (played by Mexican-American queer actor Tonatiuh), a flamboyant window dresser imprisoned for public indecency.
As both prisoners endure brutal conditions, an unlikely bond begins to form—one that blurs the line between fantasy and survival as Molina shares his obsession with Hollywood musicals (especially those starring Ingrid Luna) to cope with the inhumanity of prison life.
Set against the backdrop of state oppression, where even the most intimate connections can be weaponized, the story weaves between grim reality and dazzling fantasy—where lavish musical numbers transform the bleak prison into a throwback to golden-age Hollywood. With Lopez in what may be her most glamorous role yet, possibly generating award buzz, the film follows in the footsteps of the acclaimed 1985 adaptation that starred Raul Julia as Valentín, William Hurt (in his Oscar-winning turn) as Molina, and Brazilian starlet Sonia Braga as the dazzling Spider Woman diva.
Kiss of the Spider Woman promises to shimmer and sting when it arrives in theaters October 10th.
