The "Melania" movie is empty, foul and worse than we imagined:
The "Melania" documentary exists only to fuel Trump’s propaganda machine
salon.com/2026/02/01/the-melania-movie-is-empty-foul-and-worse-than-we-imagined/
Photo: salon.com · view article
Melania Documentary Serves as Trump Propaganda ToolThe 104-minute film depicts Melania Trump as distant and cold, released amid Trump’s declining approval in early 2026.
- The documentary ‘Melania’ offers a sterile portrayal of the former first lady during the 20 days leading up to the 2025 inauguration.
- Directed by disgraced filmmaker Brett Ratner, the film is stylistically gaudy and lacks emotional depth.
- It omits pressing political issues such as Trump’s plummeting approval ratings and harsh immigration enforcement actions.
- Despite highlighting Melania’s child advocacy, the film functions as propaganda, ignoring the harsh realities faced by families torn apart by ICE.
It can't be 'unimaginable' to lose everything — as Melania says, witnessing the devastation of last year’s Los Angeles wildfires — if watching people lose everything is your day-to-day life.— This statement is made in a critical context about Melania Trump, reflecting on the impacts of her and her husband's political decisions.
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sfgate.com Feb 06
"It has no journalistic value and even less entertainment value."
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Internet Reacts To Fox News' Take On Melania's Film: Melania's movie opened to $7 million at the box office. Amazon-MGM paid $75 million for it.
buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/fox-news-melania-trump-movie
Fox News host thinks Melania Trump should win an Oscar for ‘Melania’ movie: Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany thinks Melania Trump should win an Academy Award for ...
nydailynews.com/2026/02/02/fox-news-wants-melania-trump-academy-award-should-win-an-oscar-for-melania-movie/
The "Melania" movie is empty, foul and worse than we imagined: The "Melania" documentary exists only to fuel Trump’s propaganda machine
salon.com/2026/02/01/the-melania-movie-is-empty-foul-and-worse-than-we-imagined/
OpinionMovie Review: “Melania,” Directed by Brett Ratner: Lauren Collins on the documentary about Donald Trump’s First Lady, which Jeff Bezos and Amazon financed in a ...
newyorker.com/culture/critics-notebook/melania-is-a-forty-million-dollar-journey-into-the-void
OpinionOpinion | ‘Melania’ the Book Was Bad. ‘Melania’ the Movie Is Somehow Worse.: The surface is all there is.
nytimes.com/2026/02/03/opinion/melania-trump-movie-memoir.html
'Melania' documentary earns $7 million opening weekend: "Melania," which debuted in theaters on January 30, offers audiences a glimpse into first lady's life ...
businessinsider.com/melania-documentary-box-office-numbers-opening-weekend-trump-2026-2
First lady's film 'Melania' racks up biggest opening for a documentary in a decade
nypost.com/2026/02/01/us-news/first-ladys-film-melania-racks-up-biggest-opening-for-a-documentary-in-a-decade/
Melania Trump Movie’s First Daily Box Office Results Revealed: The box office results for Melania Trump's documentary, Melania have been revealed ...
newsweek.com/melania-trump-movie-box-office-results-11451933
Sorry MAGA, ‘Melania’ Is Most Certainly Not a Hit: The staggering cost of producing the doc may not be able to justify its box office opening.
thedailybeast.com/obsessed/sorry-maga-melania-is-most-certainly-not-a-hit/
Movie Review: Does Melania Dream of AI-Generated Sheep?: Movie review: Does Melania dream of AI-generated sheep? First Lady Melania Trump’s Brett Ratner–directed ...
nymag.com/intelligencer/article/melania-movie-review-dream-ai-generated-sheep.html
What Critics Are Saying About the ‘Melania’ Documentary: The brutal reviews are in. Here’s an updating roundup of the highlights of what film critics are saying ...
nymag.com/intelligencer/article/melania-documentary-movie-review-roundup-what-critics-are-saying.html
‘Melania’ Documentary Headed for Surprise Opening Weekend: “Melania“ sets a record with the biggest opening weekend for a documentary over the past decade.
newsweek.com/melania-documentary-surprise-opening-weekend-11448278
Amazon’s ‘Melania’ documentary makes $7M on opening weekend: While the documentary is exceeding box office expectations, it's unlikely to make a profit in ...
techcrunch.com/2026/02/01/amazons-melania-documentary-makes-7m-on-opening-weekend/
Melania Trump's movie bombs at the Australian box office: It narrowly beat a two-year-old movie that was showing on a single screen nationwide.
9news.com.au/world/melania-trump-box-office-bomb-session-times-australia-usa-politics-news/83eb9bc0-fd79-4667-bba5-6caef958fcab
'Melania,' panned by some film critics, opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary - The Mainichi
mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260202/p2g/00m/0et/004000c
"Melania" documentary opens with better ticket sales than expected, despite criticism
cbsnews.com/news/melania-documentary-opens-with-better-ticket-sales-than-expected/
Amazon touts ‘Melania’ box office success, though film well short of turning a profit
edition.cnn.com/2026/02/01/business/melania-box-office-amazon
Amazon Uses Creative Math to Crown ‘Melania’ a Success: The “documentary” made just over $7 million on opening weekend on a $75 million budget.
thedailybeast.com/amazon-uses-creative-math-to-crown-melania-a-success/
Melania film earns $7m in US, strongest documentary debut in over a decade: Melania, however, fell substantially short of turning a profit because it cost $40m ...
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/melania-trump-documentary
‘Melania’ May Go Down in History as One of the Least Revealing Documentaries Ever Made
gq.com/story/melania-one-of-the-least-revealing-documentaries-ever-made
Why MAGA won’t rally for “Melania” documentary: Jeff Bezos' big gamble to impress Trump isn't paying off with fans
salon.com/2026/01/31/why-maga-wont-rally-for-melania-documentary/
Melania film earns $7m in US, strongest documentary debut in over a decade: Melania, however, cost quite more than a typical documentary, at $40m to make and ...
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/01/melania-trump-documentary
OpinionMocking the 'Melania' documentary is your patriotic duty | Opinion: People who've done nothing to deserve power don't deserve to make movies about how inspiring ...
indystar.com/story/opinion/columnists/2026/02/01/melania-trump-documentary-amazon/88449477007/
Melania, panned by some critics, opens with strong US ticket sales: The documentary didn’t screen in advance for critics, but reviews that rolled out ...
1news.co.nz/2026/02/02/melania-panned-by-some-critics-opens-with-strong-us-ticket-sales/
'Melania' earns a surprising $7 million, the highest opening for a nonmusic documentary in a decade
cnbc.com/2026/02/01/melania-documentary-posts-7-million-domestic-opening.html
What 'Melania' movie success means: Critics called "Melania," the opulent and controversial documentary from Hollywood pariah Brett Ratner ...
heraldscotland.com/usa-today/25815451.melania-movie-success-means/
'Melania' review: First lady's posh portrait has no pulse: Documentary director Brett Ratner chases the aloof first lady from SUVs to private planes in a profile ...
latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-02-02/melania-review-donald-trump-brett-ratner-documentary-amazon
‘Melania’ Movie Blows Past Projections, Grossing $7 Million: “Melania” beat projections, but still finished behind two other big theatrical premiers this weekend ...
forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/02/01/melania-movie-blows-past-projections-grossing-7-million/
Melania Trump Told To ‘Read The Room’ Over Documentary Stunt: Even one of Trump’s onetime lawyers criticized the event.
huffpost.com/entry/melania-trump-documentary-backlash_n_69772b21e4b00e79865d6757
The Real Blockbuster? Not ‘Melania’ the Movie, but Melania the Court Case: I’ll see the first lady in court, if not on the big screen.
thedailybeast.com/the-real-blockbuster-not-melania-the-movie-but-melania-the-court-case/
Melania box office results revealed as divisive documentary defies predictions: Brett Ratner’s film about the first lady performed better than expected on its ...
independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/melania-movie-box-office-results-b2911500.html
Melania, panned by some film critics, opens with strongest documentary debut in a decade
smh.com.au/culture/movies/melania-panned-by-some-film-critics-opens-with-strongest-documentary-debut-in-a-decade-20260202-p5nyri.html
'Melania' opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary: Promoted by President Donald Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted ...
apnews.com/article/box-office-melania-trump-send-help-e200bb50d83dd910d079b671bdf79a2c
Documentary about Melania Trump: Propaganda without an audience: The pseudo-documentary "Melania" about the First Lady of the USA fails even as MAGA PR ...
taz.de/Doku-ueber-Melania-Trump/!6150413/
Melania movie gets lower Rotten Tomatoes score than some of the 'worst movies ever'
metro.co.uk/2026/01/31/melania-movie-gets-lower-rotten-tomatoes-score-worst-movies-ever-26633393/
Melania review: Shameless propaganda that could put you to sleep : If this supposed documentary weren’t about what it’s actually about, it could at times play as ...
irishtimes.com/culture/film/review/2026/01/31/melania-review-shameless-propaganda-that-could-put-you-to-sleep/
The "Melania" Reviews Are Out And They're Friggin' Brutal: 1/5 stars all around for Melania.
buzzfeed.com/mjs538/melania-reviews
‘Melania,’ panned by some film critics, opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary
trib.al/zEihQtj
Melania Trump's unusual appearance: Between crisis and cinema: The First Lady calls for peaceful protests and unity. At the same time, her documentary film ...
zdfheute.de/politik/ausland/melania-trump-dokumentation-usa-100.html
MAGA Desperately Posts Gushing Reviews of Flop Melania ‘Doc’: The film has earned a 99 percent audience score, despite a much lower critics’ score on Rotten ...
thedailybeast.com/maga-desperately-posts-gushing-reviews-of-flop-melania-doc/
Melania box office collection: Records biggest doc opening in a decade, despite 6% Rotten Tomatoes
financialexpress.com/life/entertainment/melania-box-office-collection-records-biggest-doc-opening-in-a-decade-despite-6-rotten-tomatoes/4126522/
‘Melania’ opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary: Promoted by President Donald Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted ...
english.alarabiya.net/News/united-states/2026/02/02/-melania-opens-with-strong-ticket-sales-for-a-documentary
All about (and for) Melania Trump: The first lady opens up to the world in a controversial documentary
english.elpais.com/usa/2026-01-30/all-about-and-for-melania-trump-the-first-lady-opens-up-to-the-world-in-a-controversial-documentary.html
Melania review – First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda
independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/melania-trump-movie-review-documentary-b2911108.html
Melania, panned by some film critics, opens with strongest documentary debut in a decade
theage.com.au/culture/movies/melania-panned-by-some-film-critics-opens-with-strongest-documentary-debut-in-a-decade-20260202-p5nyri.html
‘Melania’ Arrives With Strong Box Office Showing for a Documentary: Amazon backed up the Brink’s trucks to promote the vanity film, resulting in opening-weekend ...
nytimes.com/2026/01/31/business/melania-documentary-box-office.html
Straight Arrow News Feb 01
‘Melania’ is billed as a documentary. Experts say it’s a $75 million PR project: The release of “Melania” is prompting questions about its production ...
san.com/cc/melania-is-billed-as-a-documentary-experts-say-its-a-75-million-pr-project/
Decider Feb 01
'Melania' Review: A Disingenuous Documentary That Misfires By Mistaking The First Lady's Fame For Star Quality
decider.com/2026/01/30/melania-trump-documentary-movie-review/
‘Melania,’ panned by some film critics, opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary
ctvnews.ca/entertainment/article/melania-panned-by-some-film-critics-opens-with-strong-ticket-sales-for-a-documentary/
Grazia Jan 30
Melania Trump's Documentary Flops In The UK - Here's Why: A new documentary about Melania Trump, executive produced by the First Lady of the US ...
graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/melania-trump-documentary/
“Melania” celebrated its cinema premiere in Vienna: You ruined my orange!: The Amazon documentary “Melania – 20 Days to History” about the wife of US President ...
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The Melania Trump Documentary Is a Disgrace: The exorbitant film captures the rotten state of the entertainment industry.
theatlantic.com/culture/2026/01/melania-trump-documentary-review/685829/
"Melania" shows nothing - | and that is precisely the disturbing power of this film
berliner-zeitung.de/kultur-vergnuegen/warum-melania-zu-den-genialsten-polit-dokus-des-jahres-gehoert-li.10016849
Melania Trump is not Rapunzel in the tower, pining to be saved from the ogre imprisoning her
irishtimes.com/world/us/2026/02/01/melania-trump-is-not-rapunzel-in-the-tower-pining-to-be-saved-from-the-ogre-imprisoning-her/
CBR Feb 01
Melania Trump's Controversial Documentary Exceeds Expectations and Breaks Major Box Office Opening Record
cbr.com/melania-trump-documentary-melania-box-office/
Melania film is worse than you even expect: “Rich with meaning” and “so full of purpose” are the words Melania Trump uses, at the climax of her documentary ...
news.com.au/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/melania-review-a-lazy-bafflingly-incurious-documentary-that-insults-the-person-it-is-trying-to-celebrate/news-story/207ac95a056d5c1745628a1ed5c4dc1f
Melania Movie Review: Trump Documentary Is Terrible: Is propaganda always this dull...
buzzfeed.com/natashajokic1/melania-movie-review
‘Melania’ Surprise $7 Million Box Office Success Has Trump’s Older, Female Supporters to Thank
thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/melania-surprise-7-million-box-office-success-has-trumps-older-female-supporters-to-thank/
“Melania” Is as Vacuous as Its Subject: Melania Trump seems so unfazed by the sins of her milieu, it only makes sense that the Amazon film’s director ...
theintercept.com/2026/02/01/melania-trump-movie-review/
Melania | Rotten Tomatoes: Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for Melania on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!
rottentomatoes.com/m/melania
'Melania' Doc Gets Questionable Hype from President Trump's Wife: 'Melania' documentary about Melania Trump is being touted as something it's not on social media ...
movieweb.com/melania-record-breaking-documentary-hype-despite-flop/
'Melania' Is a Horror Movie: The first lady is trapped, and she doesn’t seem to know it.
theatlantic.com/newsletters/2026/01/melania-trump-documentary-horror-movie/685843/
CBR Jan 31
Melania Trump's Controversial Documentary's Rotten Tomatoes Score Unveiled: Even with abysmal reviews, Melania has just broken a major box office record.
cbr.com/melania-controversial-documentary-rotten-tomatoes-score/
The film about Melania Trump only reveals its true nature in the end credits: The film about Melania Trump is being advertised with a mega-budget ...
focus.de/politik/ausland/der-film-ueber-melania-trump-laesst-erst-im-abspann-tief-blicken_253a95a6-134b-4888-9922-5b0b80e9c64f.html
OpinionMelania Trump: Glossy documentary and its unanswered mysteries: The review: This is what the documentary about Melania Trump is like
nzz.ch/feuilleton/melania-trump-ld.1922364
LA moves buses with ads for Melania movie after film posters at stops vandalized: The Amazon documentary, which cost $40 million to produce, is expected to make ...
independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/melania-movie-ads-vandalized-la-b2911266.html
‘Melania’ Isn’t Even Good Propaganda: Amazon's new Melania Trump documentary directed by Brett Ratner, "Melania: Twenty Days to History ...
rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/melania-trump-documentary-propaganda-1235508634/
‘Melania’ documentary’s $8 million box office is a win for the first lady — but not for Amazon
marketwatch.com/story/melania-documentarys-8-million-box-office-is-a-win-for-the-first-lady-but-not-for-amazon-44256593
Paid articlePaywall
‘Melania,’ panned by some film critics, opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary
politico.com/news/2026/02/01/melania-strong-ticket-sales-documentary-critics-00759394
6 Takeaways from ‘Melania,’ the Melania Trump Documentary: The film, which counts Melania Trump as a producer, touches on her immigrant roots ...
nytimes.com/2026/01/30/movies/melania-documentary-movie-takeaways-trump.html
Opinion'Melania' isn't a documentary, it's political propaganda: 'Melania' purports to be a 'documentary,' but it's really just old-fashioned, through-the-looking-glass ...
latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-01-31/melania-documentary-amazon-political-propaganda
Decider Jan 30
'Melania' Reviews Are Out And Delivering The LOLs: "If They Showed This On A Plane, People Would Still Walk Out"
decider.com/2026/01/30/melania-reviews-lols/
OpinionI can't wait to not watch the Melania movie | Opinion: Like most Americans, I'm over-the-moon excited to not see "Melania," an unrequested documentary ...
heraldscotland.com/usa-today/25813469.cant-wait-not-watch-melania-movie-opinion/
Decider Jan 31
Is ‘Melania’ Streaming on Netflix or Prime Video?: Here's where you can watch the first lady's new documentary.
decider.com/2026/01/31/is-melania-streaming-on-netflix-prime-video/
Documentary about First Lady Melania Trump surprises at the box office: US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attended the premiere of their ...
morgenpost.de/politik/article411091200/dokumentarfilm-ueber-first-lady-melania-trump-ueberrascht-an-kinokassen.html
I watched ‘Melania’ on opening day in a near-empty movie theater. Why I did is just one of the many questions I was left with
the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/melania-movie-review-documentary-questions-b2911256.html
Melania Trump documentary shocks at the box office: Critics hated it, but director Brett Ratner's first lady documentary "Melania" Trump outperformed box-office ...
usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2026/02/01/melania-trump-documentary-movie-box-office-opening/88417769007/
I sat in a near-empty cinema for Melania - here's what I thought: Journalist Kimberley Bond was one of only a handful of people at her screening of the ...
metro.co.uk/2026/01/30/sat-a-near-empty-cinema-melania-thought-26612808/
'Melania' Documentary Premiere Bans Mainstream Press from Seeing the Movie: Some of the biggest news outlets were not allowed to watch the premiere of the ...
movieweb.com/melania-documentary-premiere-press-banned-right-wing-media-preferred/
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‘Melania’ falls steeply and ‘Send Help’ holds steady at No. 1 on a quiet weekend in theaters
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Alexandra Pelosi Gobsmacked That Melania Doc ‘Killed It at the Box Office’ with ‘MAGA Po ...
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‘Melania’ Just Broke Suspicious New Rotten Tomatoes Record: The first lady’s documentary will go down in history, but not the way the White House may have ...
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Jimmy Kimmel has a blunt response to 'Melania' documentary box office numbers: "Allegedly, they exceeded box office expectations..."
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Colbert’s ‘Melania’ Fires Back at Documentary Critics: Lauren Benanti returned as the fake first lady, to defend her multimillion-dollar documentary.
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Melania Confronted Over Movie Grift During Freed Hostage Meeting: One week after the global debut of her movie, the First Lady came under scrutiny for promoting ...
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Melania Trump movie fails to crack top 25 as documentary film flops in UK: Documentary, which cost Amazon a reported £54.6m, almost didn’t crack top 30 after ...
independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/melania-trump-movie-documentary-film-b2913744.html
‘Daily Show’s’ Jordan Klepper Crashes ‘Melania’ Premiere to Roast MAGA Moviegoers
thedailybeast.com/obsessed/daily-shows-jordan-klepper-crashes-melania-premiere-to-roast-maga-moviegoers/
Melania’s Movie Shows Signs of Bulk Buying to Boost Box Office: Guru: How the $75 million “documentary” defied box office expectations is becoming clearer.
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Fox News Says ‘Melania’ Box Office Should Scare Democrats: “Melania” came in third place in its opening weekend.
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Newspaper Issues Correction to Give ‘Melania’ an Even Worse Review: “The Guardian” has only ever given a score as low as the first lady’s documentary 18 other ...
thedailybeast.com/newspaper-issues-correction-to-give-melania-an-even-worse-review/
'Melania' was a box office success, but Amazon is $68 million in the red: Amazon's Melania Trump documentary overperformed at the box office, but Amazon has a ...
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Melania Trump's ultimate humiliation laid bare as pitiful box office earnings released
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Melania: Amazon’s $106m documentary takes $982 per screen in Australian opening weekend
theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/03/melania-amazons-106m-documentary-takes-982-per-screen-in-australian-opening-weekend
Other first ladies had cash grabs. Melania tops them all.: First lady has long been a lucrative job. Melania Trump just had to go further.
vox.com/culture/477532/melania-trump-documentary-first-lady-cash-grabs
OpinionMelania the movie is propaganda - but have you seen the BBC recently?: This is the bit where I’m supposed to say I watched Melania so that you all don’t have to.
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‘Melania’ Exceeds Low Expectations as $75 Million Doc Scores $7 Million Opening: 'Melania' is proving the haters and losers wrong as the documentary is ...
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Melania Trump Documentary Earns $7 Million at the Opening Weekend Box Office : First lady Melania Trump's new documentary earned $7.04 million during its ...
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Melania beats expectations, but Sam Raimi horror flick Send Help tops the weekend box office
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