Once Upon a time in the Middle East (2026)

This poster does not do this film justice

China's Oscar nominee kicked my ass. It shouldn't have done that because it is a messy, all over the place film, but it has an urgency and a heart that bleeds off the screen and grabs you by the throat and drags you along.  Sure, it can be an odd mix of humor and real-world horror but when the film reached its conclusion I started to cry tears of bittersweet joy.

This is the exact sort of film that I started Unseen Films to highlight. An off the beaten track wonder that is bumpy but heartfelt, and way more intriguing and wonderful than most films out there. 

The film has a Chinese chef returning to a (fictional) country in the Middle East (read it as Iraq). He hasn't been there in two decades. They want to know about his last time there, during the war when he was alleged to be part of a terrorist attack. The film then flashes back, and we see as he travels to the Middle East to run a restaurant for two years in order to pay off a debt. Not long after arriving a war starts with the US. As battles rage around them the chef and the people try to keep as many people as possible safe, particularly the kids in a local orphanage.

This is not a conventional war drama. This is a film about the pain and cost of war. It's a film that doesn't look away, and film that leaves no one unharmed.  Everyone either dies or is deeply scarred. There are no superheroes, only survivors.

Uneven in tone and style, watching the film can leave you with whiplash as comedy and tragedy merge, as do hope and heartache. The film is realistic at times and movie like at others. Some scenes play out realistically and others seem to be soap opera. It's a weird jumble that doesn't always work, but for the most part does.  If the film fails to get traction it will be because some audiences won't know what to make of it.

At the same time the characters and the underlying emotion click. The fact that we like a lot of the characters helps this film go. We don't want the people on the screen to die, but that isn't always possible. Emotionally this is a plea to end the insanity of war, and the film is going to make every effort to get that across. The result is a film that sneaks up on you and brings well-earned tears in the end.

What makes the film a must see for me is the fact that the film doesn't take the easy or familiar road. It's a film that is going to tell its story its way because that is the way it will have maximum impact.

No, the film isn't perfect, but that doesn't matter. It's alive with a burning desire to tell a story and to change minds and the result is a film that has reawakened my love of cinema after a tough slog through a festival where almost all the films were designed to look good and win awards. ONCE UPON A TIME... may be up for awards, but ultimately, it wants to save people's lives, which for my money is more important than having a shiny thing on a shelf.

Recommended.