Once Upon a Time in the Middle East

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East (Chinese: 欢迎来龙餐馆; pinyin: Huānyíng lái Lóng Cānguǎn; Arabic: مرحبًا بكم في مطعمِ التنينِ, romanized: Marhaban bikum fi maṭ'am al-tannin, lit. 'Welcome to the Loong Restaurant') is a 2026 Chinese war film written and directed by Wen Muye and starring Shen Teng and Jiang Qiming. It tells the story of Xu Fu, a philanthropic chef at a Chinese restaurant in the fictional city of Bahata in the Middle East. When a war erupts with the United States, he transforms his restaurant into a refuge for a group of orphans trapped in the city, but he is caught in the crossfire.^[1]

Plot

An elderly Xu Fu is questioned by immigration officials while attempting to enter the Middle Eastern country where he once lived. His interrogation prompts him to recall his experiences there more than two decades earlier.^[1]

Cast

Shen Teng as Xu Fu, Chinese head chef of the Loong Restaurant^[1]

Production

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East was first conceived by Wen in 2017. Wen stated he was inspired by multiple accounts of Chinese immigrants who ran restaurants in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, finding a contrast between food representing life and war representing death. Chen Xianzhong, a restauranteur in Baghdad who used his restaurant as a sanctuary for journalists, doctors, refugees, and children, and Liu Lei and Shuai Xuejun, two friends who opened the Chinese Dragon restaurant in the US-occupied Green Zone in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq were notable inspirations.^[1]

Release

In May 2025, Once Upon a Time in the Middle East debuted at the 27th National Film Promotion Conference in Xiamen.^[1]

Box office

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East earned over CN¥180 million ($26.6 million) on its opening day. In 8 days, it had surpassed CN¥1 billion ($148 million), ranking number one at the Chinese box office above Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. Once Upon a Time in the Middle East grossed $232.2 million by its second weekend.^[1]

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 15 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10.^[1]

Analysis

Jodie Wen, a political analyst at Tsinghua University, likened Xu's non-combative actions in the film to Chinese mediation efforts in the 2026 Iran War. Chinese state media stated that Once Upon a Time in the Middle East subverted Hollywood war films by representing the voices of non-combatants and having a non-interventionist stance on conflict. State media also argued that American soldiers were depicted sympathetically, and commended it as a "more objective" and "distinctly Chinese perspective on war".^[1]