Parents' Guide to

Tyrant

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Violent Middle Eastern drama misses the chance to educate.

TV FX Drama 2014
Tyrant Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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age 17+

Based on 3 parent reviews

tomlupe
tomlupe Adult
July 2, 2018
age 18+

Do not listen to commonsense media 2 star

This is very good tv show and as a 19 year old ireccommend it for only people over 17....its very violent blood and sometimes gor brutal war images and sexual violence which is already too much for most adults even....but i love it...i watched season 1 in a week ....the political theme of dictatorship is interesting to watch...of course its not education... its a drama.... and rating it two stars and its target audience is adults is absurd

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Mannix78
Mannix78 Parent
September 23, 2015
age 15+

Tyrant

I Think This Director Gordon is at it again,just like 24 and Homeland is started killing and eliminating good characters. He should stop taking out good characters and instead forge some excuse to like being confined or injured and make them recurrence characters rather than eliminating them. Now no one knows the fete of President Jamal Al Fayeed and I'll will not be surprised to see the character of Jamal dead. Now what! Have to start dealing with another unpredictable character who cannot fit the first character's shoe.
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What's the Story?

After decades away from his Middle Eastern homeland, California pediatrician Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner) reluctantly flies back with his family for his nephew's nuptials. But Barry's wife (Jennifer Finnigan) and children (Noah Silver and Anne Winters) know surprisingly little about his past, and they've never met their own estranged relatives, including Barry's TYRANT father (Nasser Faris​) and sadistic brother, Jamal (Ashraf Barhom), who's next in line for the presidency. The plot thickens when political turmoil forces the family to stay in the country indefinitely, unearthing painful memories for Barry and painful realties for those he loves.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (3):
Kids say: Not yet rated

As a series, Tyrant carries a tumultuous history that includes winning -- and losing -- A-list director Ang Lee, who was ultimately replaced by Harry Potter director David Yates, among other production issues. Not as tumultuous, of course, as the history of the region it attempts to portray on-screen but tumultuous enough to leave visible scars, resulting in an intriguing yet ultimately flawed final product that, for most critics at least, plays like a very expensive mistake.

Tyrant does get points for trying to do what few other television shows have done before: take a politically complex story involving mostly Arab characters and make it appealing to mainstream America. But key decisions to set the series in the fictional Abbudin -- an overgeneralized amalgam of Middle Eastern countries including Egypt, Libya, and Syria -- and have the actors speak in accented English, not to mention casting a non-Arab actor in the leading role, have undercut it's credibility considerably.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Tyrant's choice to portray Middle Eastern culture via a fictional country in turmoil rather than a real one. How does the series score in terms of cultural accuracy? How can you tell it was designed with American audiences in mind?

  • How does Barry measure up as a role model? Are we meant to sympathize with him, and can we still do so if he has significant flaws? Who's the real Tyrant in the show's title?

  • How are women portrayed in the series in terms of their power -- and submission? What comparisons is Tyrant drawing between American and Middle Eastern women, and are they fair?

TV Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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