ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE MIDDLE EAST (欢迎来龙餐馆) (2026)

Genre: Drama/War
Director: Wen Muye
Cast: Shen Teng, Jiang Qiming, Omar Sharif, Aarif Lee Zhi-ting, Sherif Sabby
Runtime: 2 hr 20 mins
Rating: M18 (Mature Content and Violence)
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 17 September 2026

Synopsis: Xu Fu (Shen Teng), a chef from Northeast China, heads to the Middle East to work at a Chinese restaurant. Carrying his wok, he hopes to support his family and pay off his debts. He serves up classic Chinese dishes: the Dragon‑Raising‑Its‑Head feast, candied sweet potatoes and Kung Pao chicken. He partners with restaurant manager Ma Junsheng (Jiang Qiming): Xu Fu handles the cooking, while Ma Junsheng takes care of guests. Together, they turn the little‑known Dragon Restaurant into a thriving spot. War soon breaks out, and local conditions quickly turn dangerous. Different armed groups clash across the region. What will happen to Xu Fu? Can Dragon Restaurant survive amid the chaos of war?

Movie Review:

Do not be fooled by the cheerful-looking poster of Once Upon in the Middle East. Beneath its bright colours and seemingly inviting premise lies one of the emotionally heaviest movies this reviewer has watched in a while. What begins as a story about food, friendship and survival gradually becomes a devastating portrait of war and the people caught in its destruction.

Directed by Wen Muyue, the film follows a Chinese chef who finds himself in a war-torn Middle Eastern country, where his culinary skills bring him into contact with people from very different walks of life. As he tries to make a living and navigate the unfamiliar environment, he becomes entangled in the lives of soldiers, government officials and children whose futures have been shaped by violence. What begins as a personal journey becomes an encounter with the human cost of war.

As a mainland Chinese production, one might half-expect the story to weave in some form of nationalistic messaging, perhaps with China coming to the protagonists' rescue or offering salvation amid the devastation. There is indeed a brief mention towards the end of the support China is rendering, but thankfully, this is not what drives the narrative. Instead, the film places its protagonist in a foreign land and allows him to witness the horrors of war through the people he encounters.

Some of these people are directly involved in the conflict, such as soldiers sent away from home to fight a war they would rather not fight. Others are innocent bystanders, including orphans who have been exposed to violence and become vulnerable to radicalisation. Through the chef's perspective, the film makes these horrors personal rather than distant headlines.

The cast does an excellent job tugging at the heartstrings. Aarif Lee plays a private who is an American-born Chinese and finds solace in the protagonist as a fellow Chinese. Sherif Sabby portrays a government official whose life takes a tragic turn after an unfortunate incident, while Omar Sharif plays an orphan who becomes the chef's apprentice. His character is particularly heartbreaking because you keep rooting for him not to become a weapon of war. The line, "All of them will become terrorists", is especially chilling when you consider the circumstances that could lead a child down such a path.

What makes the film work is how it encourages audiences to empathise with these characters as human beings, regardless of which side of the conflict they stand on. Jiang Qiming is memorable as the loyal friend who stands by the chef's side, while Shen Teng is reliable as always, delivering an engaging performance from beginning to end.

The technical aspects are equally impressive. The changing aspect ratios add a sense of scale and intensity, particularly during the more violent and explosive sequences. Watching these moments in an IMAX theatre would surely be an experience that leaves audiences feeling as though they are right in the middle of the chaos.

Yet the film's greatest strength lies in its emotional impact. By the time the protagonist returns to the unnamed country that shaped his life, the weight of everything he has experienced comes crashing down. The ending is not simply sad; it is shattering.

Once Upon in the Middle East is ultimately a human-centred drama about war, friendship and the lives forever changed by conflict. It is a reminder that behind every war are people with dreams, fears and loved ones — and that no one emerges from conflict unchanged.

Movie Rating:

(What begins as a story of food and friendship gradually unfolds into a moving human drama that looks beyond the battlefield to the soldiers, civilians and children forever changed by war’s devastating human cost)

Review by John Li