Tatiana Mills, a fifteen-year-old American girl, lives a quasi-chaotic alone with her single mother Darlene, who is in a complex romantic relationship with her married boss Dr Charles who is a dentist with a foot fetish. Tatiana becomes pen pals with Anton Vincent, a notorious island nation dictator. When Vincent is deposed by his own people, who rise up against his violent and oppressive rule, he disappears, causing Tatiana to worry about his safety. A few days later, he unexpectedly arrives in the United States and seeks refuge in Tatiana’s suburban garage. There, he develops a grandfatherly relationship with the teen and her struggling mother, becoming a useful manaround the house whilst organising his restoration as leader with loyalist forces back in his unnamed homeland. Anton shifts his focus to Tatiana’s high school life and her desire to deliver payback to the popular girls that pick on her. He makes her a dictator-in-training and teaches her to rise to power in her school in a similar way to his ascent to power in the Caribbean. Ultimately his plans go too far, putting her at odds with Tatiana, who also comes under investigation from the security services who have picked up on Anton's communication with his loyalist forces and suspect she is involved with terrorism. The police interview both Tatiana and Darlene and search the house, blissfully unaware that the old man in the house is Anton Vincent - whose whereabouts is unknown. No evidence is found and they are released, but upon release Tatiana informs the police that the old man is Vincent and he is arrested pending extradition.
Dear Dictator held advance screenings, under its working title Coup d'Etat, at the Nantucket Film Festival, New Jersey Indie Street Film Festival, Carmel International Film Festival and the Napa Valley Film Festival. Cinedigm released the film in North America simultaneously in theaters and on video on demand on March 16, 2018, followed by a DVD release on April 24, 2018. The first trailer was released on January 17, 2018.
Critical response
The film received negative reviews, but the performances of Caine and Rush were praised. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 25 reviews, and an average rating of 3.82/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The Hollywood Reporter reviewer Justin Lowe commended the film, suggesting "If only every international political crisis were this amusing."
