Tatiana Mills (Odeya Rush), a sixteen-year-old American girl, lives a quasi-chaotic life with her single mother Darlene (Katie Holmes), who is in a complex romantic relationship with her married boss Dr. Charles (Seth Green) who is a dentist with a foot fetish.

In a letter-writing exercise started by her Social studies teacher Mr. Spines (Jason Biggs), Tatiana becomes pen pals with Anton Vincent (Michael Caine), a notorious island nation dictator.

There, he develops a grandfatherly relationship with the teen and her struggling mother, becoming a useful man around the house while organizing his restoration as a 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 who bully her.

Ultimately his plans go too far, putting him 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 site's critical consensus reads, "Dear Dictator never comes close to taking advantage of its wildly silly premise -- or the assortment of talented veterans who round out the cast.