Facing the end of a wildly successful but turbulent career, snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan is finally keeping the game at arms length. But over the course of a season leading to a career-defining tournament, and triggered by memories of the past, he finds himself spiralling back into the sport’s intense grip. Produced by Studio 99 and directed by Sam Blair, Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything is a thrilling documentary with unprecedented access to a true icon, as he grapples with his talent and his demons.
Throughout the 2022 World Championship, the film crew tracked O’Sullivan both inside and outside the playing arena. Within his dressing room, there are fraught conversations with psychiatrist Steve Peters as O’Sullivan is almost poleaxed by anxiety during the build-up to a career-defining moment. It is only on the baize, in the eye of the storm, that he can find peace. The action is covered with unique camera angles, while a hidden microphone captures O’Sullivan murmuring to himself, the sounds of his perfect striking of the cue ball, and his exchange with Judd Trump during their embrace at the end of the final which brought his record-equalling seventh world title.
Blair, whose previous work includes Make Us Dream, Keep Quiet and Maradona ‘86, said: “Throughout the making of this film, Ronnie gave us total access to his life, and even as he approached the the extraordinary and intensely stressful climax of the season, he was committed to inviting us into his most private moments. Somehow he managed to do this while being completely natural and unguarded on camera. We had no idea the film would end up taking us to the final of the World Championship, but that’s the magic of Ronnie – we could never predict what would happen when we switched the camera on at any moment, and the whole process was full of surprise and spontaneity. Our incredible access to Ronnie was matched by the access the WST gave us, and that enabled us to capture snooker in a way it has never been seen, or heard, before. I would urge everyone to see the film on the big screen where its full impact can be felt as we take you under the skin of both Ronnie and the game itself.”
Halo provided full Picture Post Production.
Colourist: Duncan Russell said… “Working on this feature documentary was really satisfying. Sam Blair (the director) wanted to enhance the visual distinctions between the real world, the archive and the snooker table. The real world has a subtle painterly vibe that is pleasing in a high end, Martin Parr (ish) sort of way, the archive is all VHS and polaroid textures with crazy analogue noise & colour, and the sports footage is saturated, intense and unforgiving – like there is nowhere to hide. As you can imagine, that’s an exciting brief for a colourist, so we really went for it. It was beautifully put together and I was very happy to be a cog in the wheel.”
Online Editor: Ben McIlveen
Post Producer: Jess Netley-Verrinder
Streaming on Amazon Prime from 23rd November and on general release in cinemas from 24th November 2023.