Plot Synopsis

Narrated by Peter Dinklage, HOW TO BECOME A TYRANT is a six-episode documentary series that explores how aspiring dictators use the playbook for absolute power. There are rules, and the playbook for a rise to dictatorship starts with one of history's most brutal: Adolf Hitler. But once they have secured their place at the top, maintaining power means watching your back -- and nobody did that better or more ruthlessly than Saddam Hussein. When keeping your population under control, is it better to be loved or feared? Idi Amin certainly thought he knew the right answer to that question. Through public relations spin, revisionist history and censorship, Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin found a certain flexibility with the truth useful. Rebel-turned-dictator Muammar Gaddafi realized that civil liberties had to go when reshaping society. But how do they keep power forever? In North Korea, the Kim dynasty unlocked the secret: They declared themselves gods. On Friday, July 9, 2021, Netflix released the entire six-episode series.