Mr. Donkey

Mr. Donkey (驴得水, 2016) is a Chinese dark comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Four rural schoolteachers have been quietly drawing a salary for a fifth colleague — a donkey that carries their water. When an inspector from the funding charity arrives for a surprise visit, one small lie has to grow very quickly.

Directed by Liu Lu and Shen Zhou and adapted from a hit stage play, the film opens as sharp absurdist farce before darkening considerably. Each new layer of cover-up costs the teachers a piece of who they thought they were. At 111 minutes it earns its slow build. Stream Mr. Donkey online on iFILM.