“Purposeful storytelling” is how Melania Trump herself describes what audiences will find in her cinematic debut.
In many ways, that sums this film up.
While Amazon paid an eye-watering fee for the documentary, don’t expect a warts-and-all unflinching record of what the first lady did in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration.
The trailer alone is glamorous, funny and clearly carefully curated.
Her own team say she had strong creative input into the film and, as one of the executive producers, it’s likely the deal came with final cut approval.
Melania Trump waves as her film is promoted at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: Reuters
“Some have called this a documentary, it is not,” she said in a speech at the film’s premiere.
“My film is a very deliberate act of authorship. Inviting you to witness events and emotions through a window of rich imagery.
“It is a created experience that offers perspectives, insights, and moments that only few have seen.”
And she’s right, this is a unique record with Amazon boasting “exclusive footage capturing critical meetings and private conversations”.
But the reason we haven’t typically seen access like this before is that presidents and first ladies generally don’t pursue outside business ventures while in office.
And that comes down to potential conflicts of interest. For example, Barack and Michelle Obama’s mega multi-million dollar book deal was only announced shortly after he left office.
Of course, technically the first lady signed this deal and filmed this before she was in office.
And it was, by all accounts, quite the deal.
Amazon is believed to have spent $35m on marketing the film, on top of the $40m it spent in a bidding war to win the rights.
Of that initial $40m – Melania reportedly got $28m.
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The streamer has effectively argued that she’s worth it – that it believes the perceived audience interest justifies that amount.
Some critics have pointed out that Amazon is a company with many government contracts and this could have been a way to curry favour with the new administration.
When a reporter at the premiere challenged the president on how the New York Times had called it an act of corporate corruption, Trump hit back that it was “fake news”.
“I think it’s a very important movie… It shows life in the White House. It’s a big deal actually.”
Then there’s the filmmaker attached to this documentary… Brett Ratner. Best known for the Rush Hour franchise, he has been persona non grata in Hollywood for about a decade.
He hasn’t directed a movie since 2014 after being exiled at the height of the MeToo movement following accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct by several women, which he categorically denies.
This film effectively marks his big comeback. It’s also led to him being asked to make other movies including Rush Hour 4.
And while Ratner must be overjoyed to be back, reportedly two-thirds of the crew that worked on this have asked not to have their names credited.
Melania is thought to be opening with screenings in around 1,500 cinemas – not just in America but globally and in the UK.
While on social media President Trump has written: “MELANIA, the Movie, is a MUST WATCH… Get your tickets today – Selling out, FAST!”
So far, UK ticket sales seem to have been a bit limp.
At the time of writing this, looking at a dozen London cinemas’ Friday night screenings, there are plenty of seats available.
Is there enough international interest to get people paying out for popcorn to watch it? Will it be a box office flop? Well, documentaries historically never fare particularly well in cinemas.
And of course, if you’re Melania, that doesn’t really matter. She’s already been paid and gets to tell the story that she wants to tell.
