Melania Trump’s latest documentary has hit theaters with a significant marketing campaign, yet it has faced a wave of criticism from reviewers.

Directed by Brett Ratner, the £40 million film captures the First Lady’s experiences in the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Supported by Amazon MGM Studios, the documentary received a hefty £35 million promotional budget for a global push.

Despite the substantial theatrical release typical of political documentaries, critics have largely dismissed the film. Early reviews on Rotten Tomatoes have plummeted to single-digit scores, while Metacritic has characterized the response as ‘overwhelming dislike.’

The documentary has sparked controversy, with critics from liberal outlets condemning it as ‘propaganda, superficial, and remarkably unengaging.’

In contrast, audiences have responded positively, with viewer ratings climbing to near-perfect levels. The documentary has achieved one of the most successful non-fiction film openings of the past decade.

Box Office Success Masks a Deep Critical Divide 

In the US and Canada, the film has grossed £5 million in ticket sales, making it the top-performing theatrical release for a documentary, excluding concert films, since 2012.

The stark divide between critics and fans has since fuelled online debate, with accusations of review-bombing, political bias, and culture-war outrage dominating social media. 

Industry analysts have described the project as a high-profile political investment as much as a cinematic release, given its unprecedented budget and promotional blitz.

But across the critical landscape, from newspapers to entertainment sites, the verdict has been strikingly consistent – the film offers spectacle, access, and luxury, but precious little insight.   

The Guardian, whose critic said he had the cinema all to himself at his screening, gave the film one star, calling it: ‘Dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing’.

Critics Deliver a Withering Verdict on the Film 

Xan Brooks left a scathing review, describing it as a rare documentary with ‘not a single redeeming quality’ and likening it to ‘an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy, horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch, proffered like a medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.’

The review accuses the documentary of focusing on superficial luxury while ignoring the wider political context. 

Brooks goes on to mock moments such as an aide telling Melania, ‘White and gold – that’s so you,’ and concludes that ‘two hours of Melania feels like pure, endless hell’. 

The Atlantic criticised the film for its ’emptiness and glacial pacing’, adding that, despite running nearly two hours, ‘[very] little is actually in it’. 

Critic Sophie Gilbert describes Melania drifting between locations while the camera trails her ‘like a lap dog’, with the director struggling to find anything resembling action. 

While Melania claims, ‘every day I live with purpose and devotion,’ the reviewer suggests the footage largely consists of wardrobe fittings, ceremonial planning, and vague statements, with the overall effect described as ‘stultifying’. 

Dismissed as Propaganda Wrapped in Gilded Monotony 

The article argues that what appears on screen is ‘almost less compelling than what’s not’.   

Variety also questioned the film’s value and insight, writing that it is ‘many things – but it’s not $75million worth of movie’ and that much of it simply shows ‘a woman walking into and out of rooms’. 

Daniel D’Addario suggests Melania comes across as detached, with ‘little feeling behind the words’ and minimal introspection, adding that the film seems ‘aggressively uninterested in exploring the terrain of its subject’s mind’. 

The reviewer remarks that learning trivial details, such as her liking for Michael Jackson’s hit Billie Jean, feels shocking only because she otherwise says so little, concluding that the documentary ‘leaves a bitter aftertaste’ given how much she was paid to offer ‘nothing at all’.   

Vanity Fair dismissed the documentary as dull, propagandistic, and emotionally opaque, arguing that it ‘plays like a mockumentary’ and functions as ‘a work of propaganda’. 

Critic Joy Press says director Brett Ratner lacks the visual flair to elevate the material, instead offering ‘endless shots of the gaudy, excessive Trump aesthetic’ and scenes so monotonous that ‘We might as well be watching gold paint dry.’ 

An Elegant Mask That Never Slips 

The critic notes that Melania remains ‘inscrutable’ throughout, with her face ‘frozen into an elegant mask,’ and argues that even moments addressing her mother’s death fail to reveal genuine emotion. 

The outlet also criticises her commentary as clichéd, citing platitudes about ‘respect for others’ and how ‘we are bound by the same humanity.’    

Empire delivered a blunt assessment, branding the film ‘political propaganda at its most transparent – cynical, pointless, and very, very boring.’ 

William Thomas’s one-star review likens the documentary to a scripted reality show – ‘The Only Way Is White House’ – with a narration that has ‘the insight and wisdom of a school book report.’ 

It argues the film feels carefully curated to flatter its subject rather than offer truth, describing it as ‘meaningless’ with ‘no drama to speak of, no tension, no narrative arc.’ 

Ultimately, the critic says it ‘just sits there, wallowing in a puddle of its own pointlessness, and expects you to clap for it.’ 

The Daily Beast delivered a blunt verdict, declaring the documentary ‘terrible’ and, without its unintentional comic moments, potentially ‘an abomination’. 

Reviewers Say the Film Offers Nothing New or Revealing 

The critic, Kevin Fallon, says Melania appears expressionless and emotionally opaque, delivering generic narration about history and her desire to be ‘an inspiring force’. 

Attendance at screenings was reportedly sparse, with only ‘about 12 people’ in a 200-seat theatre, and the reviewer joked that their ‘soul left my body’ during the opening scene. 

Ultimately, the publication concludes that ‘Melania has nothing to say’ and that the film is neither insightful, juicy, nor entertaining.   

Decider’s Jesse Hassenger was equally brutal, saying Melania’s presence is defined by avoiding the camera and delivering ‘narcotised passages of voiceover’ that reveal ‘there is not much there.’ 

The review complains of an ‘agonising’ opening section filled with fashion tweaks and vague commentary, concluding there is ‘no conflict, no drama, no anything.’ 

The critic mocks the film’s repetitiveness, calling it ‘placid and uneventful’ and suggesting viewers drawn by glamour will instead receive ‘all the tedium they deserve.’ 

In a final barb, it argues the project ‘isn’t really a movie’ but ‘just a bunch of footage.’  

Trivial Details Replace Any Sense of Narrative or Personality 

Business Insider was similarly unimpressed, opening bluntly: ‘Melania,’ the new documentary about first lady Melania Trump, is not a good movie. 

The review, by Peter Kafka, describes a film filled with glossy visuals of private planes, SUVs, and luxury locations, but devoid of substance, calling it ‘a dull, inert product, where zero interesting things happen.’ 

The critic suggests the director resorts to stylistic gimmicks like grainy footage ‘simply to give the thing additional texture,’ likening it to ‘crumbling some crackers on top of a sodden hot dish.’ 

Ultimately, the film is compared to ‘a wedding video,’ with the reviewer concluding that while the subjects might want to watch it, ‘It’s hard to imagine anyone else will.’   

BuzzFeed offered a savage, almost comic dismissal, saying the writer would ‘rather relive that moment a hundred times over’ of bugs swarming their kitchen than watch the film again. 

Natasha Jokic derides the documentary’s aesthetic as resembling ‘a music video, or perhaps a screensaver,’ with Melania delivering vague, generic remarks likened to ‘an absent father using ChatGPT to write a wedding speech.’ 

While the film touches on serious topics, the critic says genuine personality appears only when she sings along to Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean.’ 

The review mocks the ‘mundanity’ of the content, noting that planning an inauguration appears ‘very dull,’ with ‘trivial details’ such as choosing caviar starters and wanting her hat to be ‘really sharp,’ concluding that after two hours, the most interesting fact learned was about furniture moving at ‘12.01 pm’.

Melania smashes box office numbers despite negative reviews

First Lady Melania Trump’s documentary, named Melania, has smashed its dismal box office sales estimates during opening weekend – much to the shock of Hollywood.

The movie earned $7million in ticket sales across the US and Canada, making it the best-performing theatrical release for a documentary, outside of concert films, since 2012.

The film’s strong performance surprised Hollywood critics, who gave it bad reviews. Initial projections for ticket sales were $3million to $5million, based on the pace of ticket sales last week.

‘No one saw that coming,’ the Hollywood Reporter wrote, adding that many had written the film off, ‘based on empty, or nearly empty, seat maps in cinemas across the country.’

Brain Stelter, the chief media analyst at CNN, criticized Melania’s performance on X and wrote: ‘Amazon MGM Studios is touting strong ticket sales, but the film is still far far short of turning a profit, i.e. the typical Hollywood metric for success.’

The Daily Beast also published its own criticism after people heralded the box office numbers, saying that Amazon is ‘somehow celebrating as a success, even though the movie is still down nearly $68 million.’

Jeff Bock, senior media analyst for Exhibitor Relations, also exhibited shock at the sheer number that the documentary was able to rake in.

He said that anything over $1 million – which Melania trumped seven times over – is ‘a huge number’ that indicates ‘a lot of folks who don’t normally go to the movies went to this,’ USA Today reported.

Despite the negative reviews, with the film scoring a 10 percent from Rotten Tomatoes’ professional critics, viewers seemed to love what they saw.

Rotten Tomatoes’ viewer rating system, which allows anyone to review a movie, is at 99 percent for Melania.

Viewers gave it an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls and five stars on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak.

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