House of Gods

An enlightening and interesting series that starts off slowly and builds well. I felt invested in the characters and plot twists, including the feuds between rivals and the consequences of these. The acting was strong and kept me entertained and engaged through many poignant scenes.

A previous review claimed this is "not suitable for prime time on a Sunday"... what an 'interesting' point of view and I think completely wrong. Lucky you don't have to watch it on a Sunday with ABC iView :) Another comment in the same review suggested it "might be better placed on SBS"...again, completely wrong in my opinion, as ABC should represent the multicultural aspects of Australia.

Overall, I really enjoyed this series and hope there is more to come. As someone not of the Islamic faith, I felt it was a balanced and credible performance which maintained my attention, leaving me wanting to see how this story will progress.

How else can we learn about our neighbours? Walk into a mosque? Watch the news? No, intriguing and entertaining drama is really the only way to break the ice and let neighbours in. And this drama does it very well. Some may criticise it for being inaccurate, predictable, melodramatic..... but ultimately it provides an engaging window into a culture that lives amongst us. This is well written, acted, produced and directed. All the cast appear totally authentic, the settings real and the emotional conflicts are universal. Matchbox and ABC obviously put much effort into this production and all should be applauded. A second series would build on this good work. Will that happen? Probably not, but it should.

I really enjoyed this and am surprised it is not higher rated. It's an unusually thoughtful piece - not full of high impact cresendos but instead a very human drama, a slow and quiet unfurling of the stories of a muslim family, an exploration of how their faith & community both inspires them and limits them. The characters are well drawn, all surprisingly ordinary and relateable despite their context and the dilemmas their faith presents. The relationships are complex and well portrayed,and you sense their points of connection and disconnect, they are a unit but each is living their own indivudual journey. It it not at all a Muslim Sopranos, though the backdrop of that community gives it an interesting and rich slant. It's a complex and layered human drama that anyone could relate to. I hope there's a second series!

Very good acting by all the main actors. Well written plot line. Good dialogue. Good drama. All characters are complex, the good ones and the 'bad' ones. Until you realise they're all good and tortured, in their own way. Not lunch more to say. One doesn't need to be Muslim to like it. It's the narrative that leads it. So yes it's great that it helps build bridges between cultures in Australia etc etc etc, but that has zero to do with why i think it's good. It's actually good in its own right and not for politically correct reasons.

The only slight gripe is a little bit of new age politics rammed in there in certain moments. The elder daughter's (Batul) character has some weird feminist moments planted in there, that don't really logically align with the character otherwise. In the fourth episode, while speaking of her life's plans to her dad the Sheik, she proudly exclaims "it's my *choice*!". All else she needed was a soapbox and a girl power t shirt to be truly vomit inducing. I mean save us the cliches. This was not necessary to the plot or the show, at all, but I still give the show a good rating as I figure this is the abc demanding more feminist stuff in the narrative in a show about Muslims, so Osamah probably had not much choice. That said it's a minor gripe and it confines itself to episode four only so can all be looked past.

I hoping for a second series. I know it came to an end, be it a very open end, but a second series would be great if they can please steer clear of trendy politics. (What's great about Islam is that is doesn't follow trends, it's eternal and proud. So stay true to that please.) And I've seen plenty of shows manufacture second series from less than this.

With so many people watching on iView and giving episodes ten out of ten, I thought that at some of those people would put their opinions into a user review, yet I find that I am the first one.

Those not of the Islamic faith might be put off by a series that dramatises the political struggles for control of an Australian mosque. I struggled to stay interested in the characters for the first two episodes. I hoped to be enlightened but I found myself being confirmed in my attitudes towards both the religion and the nationalities who follow it.

The acting is of a high standard, especially considering that many are not very experienced.

The pace is very slow. The subtitles often get lost in the background which is not good if you don't speak Arabic.

This is a series that might be better placed on SBS. This is not suitable for prime time on a Sunday night and I expect that the ratings will show that.