Mr. Long

Mr. Long (2017) is a crime drama from Japanese director Sabu that you can watch online on iFILM. Taiwanese star Chang Chen plays a near-silent hitman famous for his work with a blade — and the film patiently turns that killer back into a human being.

Long travels to Tokyo for a contract, but the job falls apart and leaves him badly wounded. He goes to ground in a sleepy Japanese town where nobody knows his name. Almost by accident, the former assassin ends up cooking at a little street noodle cart, and his food makes him a small local celebrity. A young boy and his troubled mother drift into his orbit, and Long — who can barely string two words together in this foreign place — gets pulled into their lives far deeper than he meant to.

Sabu builds the whole thing on contrast: a quiet, almost tender story about cooking and a found family keeps brushing up against the cold violence of Long's past. A co-production of Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Germany, it's slow, deceptively gentle filmmaking for anyone who loves Asian arthouse drama. Stream Mr. Long (2017) online on iFILM.