Mo Trailer: Finding The Funny In Falling Between The Cracks

The United States is a land of promise and opportunity, but sometimes the road to getting there can be ridiculously challenging. The new Netflix series "Mo" follows Palestinian refugee Mo Najjar as he tries to make his way towards U.S. citizenship while falling between the cracks as a person without papers. Comedian Mo Amer is both the star and executive producer on the series, as the show is based on Amer's own life experiences as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Texas. 

A24 is producing the series along with Netflix and Ramy Youssef, who created the Emmy-nominated series "Ramy" for Hulu. This series looks like it will mirror the tone and structure of "Ramy," which eschews traditional sitcom tropes in favor of a more personal form of storytelling. The first trailer dropped today, showing off the slice-of-life refugee comedy ahead of its release on Netflix on August 24, 2022. 

The trailer shows Mo trying to make sense of the many worlds he inhabits. He struggles to make ends meet by selling merchandise out of the trunk of his car, which is one of the only things he can do to make money without a state-issued ID, and we see the hustle that goes into making that work. He is constantly reminded of the differences in culture, with white friends and acquaintances making awkward attempts to be welcoming and his own family fighting to assimilate without losing their own culture. Oh, and apparently everyone keeps their shoes on inside in Texas? That's nasty. Don't do that. Keep those outside germs outside.

On top of balancing his family's Palestinian culture with the American culture he's surrounded by, Mo also has to try and reconcile his girlfriend's Mexican-American Catholic culture as well. Teresa Ruiz plays Mo's girlfriend Maria, who we see in the trailer attempting to teach Mo the sign of the cross. The rest of the cast includes Farah Bseiso as Mo's mother, Omar Elba as his older brother Sameer, and Tobe Nwigwe as Mo's oldest friend, Nick. 

Here's the official synopsis: 

Mo Najjar straddles the line between two cultures, three languages and a ton of bullsh** as a Palestinian refugee constantly living one step away from asylum 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.

"Mo" will premiere on Netflix on August 24, 2022.