Like many minorities in Hollywood, the Arab-American community unfortunately has a troubled history with respectful and genuine depictions across film and television. From older movies presenting Arab culture with harem girls and grimy men with numerous wives, or the popular stereotyping of Arabs as terrorists across countless action movies, it’s much easier to find harmful examples of the Arab-American community in popular entertainment. And then new TV shows, like #1 Happy Family USA, now streaming for those with an Amazon Prime subscription shows us that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Although a study released by UCLA in 2025 shows that just 1.2 percent of theatrical film roles include actors from a Middle Eastern or North African background, in the past twenty years, more instances than ever with honest portrayals of the Arab-American community have come out. While there’s a long way to go when it comes to representing Arab-Americans, the movies and shows below signal a brighter future for the representation of the estimated three million Arab Americans in the United States. Whether you’re part of the community or simply want to discover a new movie or TV show that is considerate to the Arab-American experience, check out our best picks available to stream below:
#1 Happy Family USA (2025 - )
The latest new TV show to come out about Arab-Americans is Amazon Prime’s #1 Happy Family USA. Created by Ramy Youssef and South Park’s Pam Brady, the series is an animated sitcom about the Hussein family, an immigrant family from Egypt who are living in New Jersey in the early ‘00s. The series opens on the family living their lives on September 10, 2001, and the aftermath that follows the events of 9/11. While it’s tackling the huge issue of how tons of harmless Muslim Americans were affected by the terrorist attack through Yousseff’s teen character of Rumi, it’s also a hilarious coming-of-age comedy packed with laughs for fans of family sitcoms for adults.
Stream #1 Happy Family USA on Amazon Prime.
Mo (2022 - 2025)
One of the most exciting voices in comedy right now is Mo Amer, who has not shied away from talking about topics that Arab-Americans can very much relate to in his standup specials (even with small things like making hummus). In 2022 he released the first season of Mo, a comedy/drama series he co-created, produced and starred in. Mo is loosely based on his own life growing up in Texas after his family emigrated from Palestine when he was a kid, having an interracial relationship as an adult and so forth. The series earned a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and recently continued with its fantastic second and last season. Mo is one of those rare examples of great representation of the Arab-American experience with a specific POV, and we hope there’s a lot more from Mo Amer on the way.
Moon Knight (2022)
We mustn't forget that Marvel Studios also depicted an Arab-American superhero with May Calamawy’s character of Layla El-Faouly / Scarlet Scarab. Layla, who is an archaeologist, is the wife of Oscar Isaac’s Marc Spector in the miniseries, adventurer and Egyptian American. What’s especially cool about her role in Moon Knight is how the series’ lead director Mohamed Diab (who is also Egyptian) made sure to have an honest portrayal of her that other Arab-American women could relate to (along with depicting the country honestly itself). When speaking to Los Angeles Times, Calamawy said she drew “inspiration from Middle Eastern women,” saying she finds “Arab women have a very unassuming, soft strength to them”.
Stream Moon Knight on Disney+.
Little America (2020-2022)
One of the first series to drop on Apple TV+ was this anthology series, Little America, which was actually co-developed by Kumail Nanjiani. The series focuses on immigrant stories in America from all over the world, but there’s one episode that specifically (and beautifully) speak to being Arab-American. There’s “The Son” which is about a Syrian refugee who dreams of being granted asylum in America so he can live freely as an openly gay person. While only one episode focuses on an Arab-American, the whole series is worth watching, and shows how immigrants from all cultures have common ground.
Stream Little America on Apple TV+.
The Visitor (2007)
Nearly a decade before Tom McCarthy was showered with awards for Spotlight, he wrote and directed a beautiful film in 2007 called The Visitor. The independent film stars Richard Jenkins, in a role that earned him his first Oscar nomination. He plays a widowed economics professor named Walter Vale, who unexpectedly finds a young couple (played by Haaz Sleiman and Black Panther’s Danai Gurira) living in his apartment, and, he comes to learn that they’re illegal immigrants. When Walter decides to let them stay, he forms a sweet relationship with Tarek, who is a Palestinian-Syrian djembe player, who teaches him how to play, along with Walter forming a friendship with his mother, when she unexpectedly visits as well. It’s a memorable film about healing from grief, along with bringing to light immigration issues in post-9/11 New York City.
Stream The Visitor on Tubi for Free.
Rent/Buy The Visitor on Amazon.
Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
For four seasons, Sam Esmail’s Mr. Robot was led by Rami Malek, who is the son of Egyptian immigrant parents hailing from California, who also is the son of Egyptian immigrant parents, who came up in Jersey. The critically-acclaimed series follows Elliot Alderson, a brilliant cybersecurity engineer, who becomes a vigilante hacker by night. Esmail previously shared to THR that the Arab Spring inspired him to make the show. The riveting show is a rare example of Arab-Americans being both behind and the face of a hugely popular network series, and one with a storyline that isn’t purely focused on the immigrant experience. Mr. Robot has particularly been applauded for its complicated depiction of mental illness.
Stream Mr. Robot on Tubi for free.
May In The Summer (2013)
While I wanted to recommend writer/director Cherian Dabis’ affecting 2009 family movie Amreeka, which is about a single Palestinian single mother’s journey when she moves with her teen son to Indiana and takes up a job at White Castle, it’s unfortunately not streaming anywhere, nor are their physical formats of the movie readily available. However, Dabis’ other great film inspired by her Arab-American roots is May In The Summer, which she wrote, directed, produced and stars in. The movie follows a woman named May as she returns to her childhood home in Jordan for her wedding and begins to question her upcoming decision.
Stream May in the Summer on Tubi For Free.
Search Party (2016-2022)
Another major series starring an Arab-American actor is Search Party. The black comedy series that ended last year stars Alia Shawkat– who is half Iraqi –as the lead character. She plays Dory Seif, who is among a cast of twenty-something friends. There's a lot of twists and turns in Search Party, but the first season has Dory making it her mission to investigate the disappearance of a college acquaintance. After years in Hollywood, playing supporting roles in projects like her role as Maeby in Arrested Development, Search Party gave her center stage in a critically-acclaimed and original dramedy.
Stream Search Party on HBO Max.
Breaking Fast (2020)
Lebanese-American writer/director Mike Mosallam made a queer romantic comedy called Breaking Fast about an Arab-American and practicing Muslim (played by Haaz Sleiman) who is struggling with single life in Los Angeles after a recent breakup. Then, he meets Michael Cassidy’s Kal, who offers to fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan. The filmmaker told ET he was inspired by Julia Roberts romantic comedies when telling a story that allows for the rare intersection between the LGBTQ+ and Arab-American community in a movie. Here’s hoping more new LGBTQ+ movies also include Arab-Americans like this one.
Stream/Rent/Buy Breaking Fast on Amazon.
Ramy (2019 - )
Stand-up comedian and former Nickelodeon actor Ramy Youssef stunned audiences in 2019 with the debut of his fiercely honest (and very funny) series, Ramy. Not unlike Mo, which Youssef was actually inspired by years before it went into production, the Hulu series is somewhat autobiographical and in other ways very much a fictional interpretation of his life growing up in Jersey as the son of Egyptian immigrant parents. Ramy wrestles with its titular character’s struggle to honor his Muslim faith and upbringing as an American as well in an authentic way. This show has been a big deal since it’s won a Golden Globe and a Peabody award.
Now, it’s been a few years since the last season, and we haven’t heard about a fourth season, but Youssef has previously said that it’s “definitely not over” and was dividing his time on other projects, like being part of Oscar winner Poor Things.
Arab-American representation in movies and television is still hard to come by, considering finding this handful of titles did not come easy. These titles do signal more diversity and inclusion recently and will undoubtedly usher in even more examples in the next few years. You can support them by checking them out and spreading the word.
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