Now Steaming: How to Become a Tyrant

How to Become a Tyrant, a six-part documentary series streaming now on Netflix, takes an irreverent approach to some very dark subject matter. Narrated by Peter Dinklage, the series is structured around a fictional “playbook” that lays out “a series of tactics that history’s most infamous tyrants used to achieve unimaginable power,” with each episode built around a specific tactic and a particular tyrant.

The first episode, Seize Power, focuses on the megalomania that fueled Adolf Hitler’s rise to power.

Episode 2, Crush Your Rivals, explores Saddam Hussein’s ruthless elimination of potential rivals.

Episode 3, Reign Through Terror, examines Idi Amin’s use of brutality, torture and mass murder to terrorize and subdue his countrymen.

Episode 4, Control the Truth, centers on Joseph Stalin, who excelled at the use of “propaganda, disinformation and other clever tricks to maintain total control over the Soviet Union.”

Episode 5, Create a New Society, focuses on Mummar Gaddafi, “who made the complete transformation of Libyan society his life’s work.”

Episode 6, Rule Forever, considers Kim Il Sung, who, along with his son, Kim Jong Il, “built a system of absolute rule that is still going strong today, while turning their nation into a shrine to their family’s greatness.”

Each episode is comprised primarily of archival footage, animation and expert commentary, and held together by Dinklage’s dry, playful narration. While the footage is of uneven quality, the overall production values are solid, and the approach, which some may find too clever by half, breathes a bit of new life into some familiar subjects.