Magic in the Moonlight vs Ballad of a Small Player

Magic in the Moonlight

For most of the film you cannot tell if Sophie has real powers. The seance and the story of Aunt Vanessa's pearls seem inexplicable. Stanley changes his mind about the world because of her, then changes it back. You share his uncertainty about what is real.

Ballad of a Small Player

Dao nurses Reilly back to health and tells him they are kindred spirits. Later you learn she was never really there. Once you know that, you question everything else he saw.

Magic in the Moonlight

Sophie seems to know private details about Stanley and his family, and she appears to move a candle. Then Stanley hides in a room and hears Sophie and Howard talking, and learns they worked together to fool him. Every earlier scene now plays differently.

Ballad of a Small Player

One line from a gambler called Grandma changes the film. Dao drowned herself on the first night of the festival, which means Reilly's time with her was hallucination. The earlier scenes now read as a haunting.

Magic in the Moonlight

Shooting took place in Nice and Antibes in the south of France, with the Nice Observatory playing the place where Stanley and Sophie shelter. The sunny Riviera setting makes the whole fake séance seem like a fantasy.

Ballad of a Small Player

Macau and Hong Kong are part of the cast. Casinos, hotels and temples set the mood, and one review of the film called Macau memorably opulent. The setting looks glamorous and also keeps closing in on Reilly.