Mo is a triumph and provides a glimmer of hope in a dark time for the Muslim diaspora
Mohammed Amer’s star has steadily risen over two decades and his self-titled Netflix show is the result of truly stellar talent
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Downloading the TikTok app has not exactly been net positive for me. For every clip keeping me up to date with political activism, learning how to do eyeshadow when you are over 35, or getting cult movie recommendations, far more time has been sucked up with trad wives making gum. It has, on the whole, amounted to a colossal waste of time. But one of the best things it has done is introduce me to the work of Mohammed “Mo” Amer.
As a film and TV critic, I often don’t have time to consume much outside of my commissions. I somehow missed out entirely on the first series of Netflix’s Mo in 2022, despite having Ramy Youssef and the classy production company A24 (The Brutalist, Everything Everywhere All At Once) behind it. Thankfully, my TikTok algorithm fed me his phenomenal stand-up and hilarious crowd work. So last year I finally tore through the first eight episodes of his sitcom, and only had a few months to wait until 2025 would bring us the return of this utterly enchanting show.
As a comedian, the Palestinian American has a rare specificity and connection with the Muslim diaspora in his standup, which is filled with jokes about how being called Mohammed is tough at airports but great for your Uber rating, or how Arabic curse words are far more satisfying to say than English ones. He’s warm, affable and sharp as a tack on stage, so it’s unsurprising that he’s managed to thrive in spaces not normally welcoming to Muslim refugees (Amer arrived in the US aged nine). Hearing about how he was flown over to perform comedy for the American troops in Kuwait and Iraq at age 19 sounds surreal — the first time he had returned to the countries his family had fled from — but his work invites you in and reaches across the aisle.
Amer’s star has steadily risen over two decades, and having his own self-titled show on Netflix (with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) is the result of truly stellar talent. He’s also a true example of a rising tide lifting all boats, as he’s cast many other Muslim actors including Farah Bsieso as his anxious mother Yusra, Moayad Alnefaie as his best friend Hameed, and Omar Elba who is stunning as his neurodivergent brother Sameer.
Mo’s first series was semi-autobiographical and the boundary between the Amer of standup and of the sitcom character is paper thin, with him appearing throughout the season as a sensitive optimist who can find humour in any situation. We meet Mo as he hustles in Houston, Texas, trying to secure US citizenship for his family. It’s warm and hysterical but often slows down to give space to the trauma that his family carries, such as the powerful moment Mo is triggered by a lit cigarette as we find out his father was tortured in Kuwait by having them stubbed out on his skin.
Season two begins in Mexico where Mo is trapped in a Kafka-esque nightmare, unable to legally re-enter the US and go to the asylum hearing that would grant him citizenship. Needless to say, it’s not all doom and gloom and he does make it back to Houston where he has to contend with the less extreme problem of his ex-girlfriend moving on with an Israeli chef called Guy, played by the always delightful Simon Rex. The hostility between them as political and romantic rivals is played for laughs, with Mo responding to Guy asking for his lighter back with a sharp: “Happy to give it back to you as soon as you give us our land back.” And by Mo’s estimation, Guy makes hummus that is an abomination.
While the first season met huge acclaim and won a Peabody, it came out in a time where Mo’s very existence was politicised. Now, three years later, being a Palestinian American is even more politically loaded. Mo has returned carrying a far heavier burden of representing and humanising the Palestinian diaspora on the biggest media platform on the planet. To put that kind of pressure on an artist is unfair, yet Mo’s second season is a triumph. It poignantly ends on 6 October 2023, the final scene soundtracked by Nina Simone’s I Wish I Knew How It Would To Be Free.
Sadly, Amer has indicated that the second season of Mo will be its last, so it’ll join Fleabag, The Comeback and Mindhunter as the best shows we only got two seasons of. But this series will be remembered as a glimmer of hope in a dark time for the Muslim diaspora; that a brilliant man has made art for the world to see them in all their complicated humanity, and one day, maybe all of us will be free.
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