Melania Trump‘s glossy new documentary has arrived in cinemas with a multimillion-dollar marketing push, but has been met with a brutal critical drubbing.
The £40million Brett Ratner-directed film, which follows the First Lady in the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump‘s second inauguration, was backed by Amazon MGM Studios, and heavily promoted worldwide with a £35millon budget.
Despite an unusually large theatrical rollout for a political documentary, critics have overwhelmingly panned the project, with early Rotten Tomatoes scores plunging to single digits and Metacritic branding the reception ‘overwhelming dislike’.
The film has become a lightning rod for controversy, with reviewers accusing it of ‘propaganda, superficiality, and stunning dullness’.
Even so, audiences have reacted very differently, with verified viewer scores soaring to near-perfect levels and the documentary delivering one of the biggest non-fiction openings in a decade.
However, the movie earned £5million 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 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.
Melania Trump’s glossy new documentary has arrived in cinemas with a multimillion-dollar marketing push, but has been met with a brutal critical drubbing
The film has become a lightning rod for controversy, with reviewers accusing it of ‘propaganda, superficiality, and stunning dullness’
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’.
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’.
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’.
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
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania attend the premiere of the documentary film ‘Melania’ at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, January 29, 2026
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.’
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’.
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.
Empire delivered a blunt assessment, branding the film ‘political propaganda at its most transparent – cynical, pointless, and very, very boring’
Business Insider was similarly unimpressed, opening bluntly: ‘Melania, the new documentary about first lady Melania Trump, is not a good movie’
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.’
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’.
