Review by: Grace Landsberg

The short
A short, Arab teen-drama series on Netflix centered around a class’ supernatural field trip to Petra. Has been referred to as “like a Middle Eastern Twilight.”

The long
Jinn is Netflix’s first Arabic series. It follows a group of Jordanian teenagers as their journey through Petra quickly devolves when the spirit of a teenage boy, or the “Jinn,” enters the groups’ lives. The show is corny and criticized for being superficial, predictable, and poorly-translated. The reception to Jinn was controversial and widely varied due to the explicit language, sexual content, and cultural accuracy.

To watch or not to watch?
Jinn’s comparison to a “Middle Eastern Twilight” is fairly accurate. If you’re in the mood to hear Jordanian-Arabic in the background while working or cleaning your living room, Jinn is a good fit for that. For Arabic language learners, the series can serve as an easily accessible background audio. For those more interested in the MENA culture aspect, while Jinn is not a good show, its premiere was a significant recent pop culture event met with considerable backlash.