‘Once Upon a Time in the Middle East’: An anti-war story served over Chinese hotpot

Minor spoilers ahead

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East is, at its heart, a reminder of how quickly ordinary lives can be consumed by war.

Set against the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the film shifts attention away from soldiers and geopolitics and towards civilians caught in the conflict. Its message is particularly powerful when it comes to children: they should have the chance to determine their own futures rather than inherit the consequences of decisions made by adults.

The story follows Xu Fu, played by Shen Teng, a struggling Chinese chef who leaves his wife and daughter behind and travels to the Middle East in search of a better income.

He arrives unable to speak Arabic. What follows transforms him.

Through a Chinese hotpot restaurant and the people he meets, Xu Fu builds a new family, only to confront the devastating human cost of war. Forced into extraordinary circumstances, he finds the courage and resourcefulness to help orphaned children escape violence and pursue a second chance at life.

Xu Fu is no conventional hero. He is flawed, motivated initially by money and willing to profit from wartime conditions. Those choices strain his relationship with his daughter in China.

But war changes him. By the film’s end, the legacy he leaves behind is worth far more than the money he originally travelled abroad to earn.

Sino Carib News attended a screening of the film last week as part of the China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) 2026 programme, where director Wen Muye discussed the thinking behind the production.

From left; Film Director Wen Muye, and Actor Lǐ Zhìtíng, who plays the role of Tony Wang, an American/Chinese soldier, as they fielded questions from the audience following the movie screening.

War through a different lens

Hollywood films about the Iraq War have often placed American soldiers at the centre of the story. Once Upon a Time in the Middle East takes a different approach, viewing the conflict largely through the experience of a civilian outsider.

There is still plenty of action. Xu Fu repeatedly finds himself in danger and, at one point, is even accused of involvement in a terrorist attack.

But Wen said the film is less concerned with debating the ideological arguments behind war than examining what war does to people.

Buildings are destroyed, families are separated and characters who begin with good intentions are gradually pushed towards darker choices.

The film also avoids presenting every American soldier as one-dimensional.

Tony Wang, a Chinese-American soldier played by Hong Kong actor Aarif Rahman, is shown beneath the military bravado as a man who has left his family behind and desperately wants to escape the war.

Even Lieutenant Morgan, played by Russell Shealy, is given moments intended to show the person behind his role as an enforcer at Alifah Prison, where Xu Fu eventually ends up.

The result is a film more interested in the human consequences of conflict than simple heroes and villains.

Xu Fu, played by Shen Teng, is a down on his luck Chinese Chef who migrates to the Middle East and is subsequently dragged into war

Inspired by real Chinese lives abroad

While the story is fictional, Wen drew inspiration from Chinese restaurateurs who were living and working in the Middle East around the time of the invasion.

During production, he visited Chinese restaurants in the region and spoke with their owners. Elements of their experiences were incorporated into Xu Fu’s journey from indebted migrant worker to part-owner of the hotpot restaurant around which much of the story revolves.

It is an experience that may also resonate with Caribbean audiences.

Chinese restaurateurs have established businesses and communities across the world, including throughout the Caribbean and in Guyana. Many have built lives far from home while maintaining strong cultural and family ties.

Wen also visited refugee camps while developing the film, experiences that helped shape its depiction of civilians displaced by conflict.

He recalled being moved to tears during those visits, particularly by the impact war had on children-an experience reflected strongly in the film’s final act.

More than a war film

Once Upon a Time in the Middle East mixes action, humour, romance and tragedy with glimpses of Chinese, Arab and American cultures.

But beneath it all is a straightforward anti-war message: geopolitical decisions eventually reach ordinary people-their homes, businesses, families and children.

And amid the explosions and loss, something as simple as a hotpot restaurant becomes a symbol of community, survival and belonging.

As Xu Fu and his mother repeatedly tell each other in the film: “Eat well.”

It is a fitting sentiment for a movie that uses food to tell a much larger story about humanity.

By Jarryl Bryan