House of Saddam

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

The perspective one gets from inside the House of Saddam is different than media reports from the outside and is, in itself, an important reason to tune in.

Washington PostTom Shales

A chilling and riveting essay on the evils that men do and continue doing, year after year, century after century, millennium after millennium.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

Made jointly by the BBC and HBO, House of Saddam is well told and often lurid, a saga that blends the dirty work of despotism with the rituals of family gatherings, sibling rivalries and marital discontents.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

There are well-written and well-mounted scenes and some good performances. It is not without suspense. But even at four hours, House of Saddam feels incomplete and scattered--a lessened, not a heightened reality.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

House of Saddam offers a fascinating but limited portrait of the Iraqi tyrant.

TimeJames Poniewozik

It's a refreshing take and an interesting effort, if finally not quite a compelling one.

Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis

House plays like an edition of PBS' Frontline with actors.

SlateTroy Patterson

The production's appeal is all on the surfaces--in a moment where a killer's image is reflected in a fresh pool of blood, say, or a megalomaniac catches his own eye in the mirror.

SalonHeather Havrilesky

Witnessing every ugly twist in Hussein's long and arduous path to self-destruction is more grueling than you'd expect, in part because this script doesn't paint Hussein in very many shades other than the pitch black of pure evil.

PopMattersCynthia Fuchs

For its part, House of Saddam provides little insight into Saddam Hussein. Instead, it repeats truisms about well-reported events, many of them best remembered as TV images.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

The style of the telling--heavy and, ultimately, hollow--perfectly matches the substance of the story. But of course that lugubrious style makes House of Saddam a slog, even while it is precisely paced and seamlessly directed.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Beyond snapshots of his quarter-century of tyranny, though, there's precious little that penetrates the surface, despite vague references to his stepfather slapping him around.

Wall Street JournalStaff (Not Credited)

As disrespectful to his victims as it may be to view The House of Saddam as entertainment, that is the only level where it succeeds.