‘Mo’ Trailer: Comedian Mo Amer Laughs the Pain Away in A24’s Netflix Show About a Refugee

Ryan Lattanzio
·2 min read
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Netflix has released the official trailer for “Mo,” the upcoming A24-produced comedy series from executive producers and creator Mohammed “Mo” Amer and Ramy Youssef. The series reunites Youssef with A24 after his Emmy-nominated work on the Hulu series “Ramy,” while bringing the comedy creator to Netflix for the first time. The series, which drops on the streaming platform August 24, is based on Amer’s own experiences as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Texas.

In “Mo,” Mo Najjar (Amer) straddles the line between two cultures, three languages and a ton of BS as a Palestinian refugee constantly living one step away from asylum and on the path to U.S. citizenship. His family — including his resilient and spiritual mother, sister and older brother — flee to Houston, Texas. Laughing the pain away, Mo learns to adapt to his new world, though getting ahead in life comes with several setbacks.

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Teresa Ruiz stars as Mo’s girlfriend Maria, with Farah Bsieso as Mo’s mother, Yusra Najjar. Omar Elba portrays Sameer Najjar, Mo’s older brother with social anxiety, and Tobe Nwigwe is Nick, Mo’s oldest, most loyal, and most cunning friend.

The series is also executive produced by Ravi Nandan and Hallie Sekoff for A24, Harris Danow (“Little Fires Everywhere,” “Daisy Jones & The Six”), Luvh Rakhe (“Dave,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), and series director Solvan “Slick” Naim (“It’s Bruno!,” “Snowfall”).

Youssef previously told IndieWire that he approaches TV with a “short film feel” to focus on one character at a time in order to include multiple storylines. Natch, “Mo” is a 30-minute comedy series in the vein of “Ramy,” which spread its two seasons across exploring multiple characters besides Youssef’s own. (The series was renewed for a Season 3 in 2020 but hasn’t seen any movement on production.)

“We don’t want to be doing the TV thing where every episode is A-story, B-story, C-story, where things start to feel really crammed and it starts to feel like nothing is really getting its air and it feels very formulaic,” Youssef said.

Youssef will next appear in “The Favourite” director Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein update “Poor Things” alongside Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley.

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