The $75 million documentary about Melania Trump, Melania, has received a woeful 6 percent rating among critics, according to early reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The documentary’s rotten score, based on 16 reviews as of this writing, is worse than that of the infamously-maligned CATS, the 2019 musical romp that is still the butt of jokes. That film garnered a whopping 19 percent rating on the Tomatometer.
The “verified” Rotten Tomatoes “Popcornmeter” audience reviews for the film are nearly all raves, but folks have noticed almost all come from new accounts – created within hours of each other – that have never posted before. Can you say ‘bot?’
The film, directed by Brett Ratner, follows Mrs. Trump in the 20 days leading up to the Donald’s 2nd inauguration in 2025, has been almost universally panned.
Kevin Fallon, of The Daily Beast, called it “a level of insipid propaganda that almost resists review; it’s so expected and utterly pointless.”
“A documentary that never comes to life,” Variety’s Owen Gleiberman declared. “It’s a ‘portrait’ of the First Lady of the United States, but it’s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.”
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote the Amazon-MGM film “fawns so lavishly over its subject that you feel downright unpatriotic not gushing over it.”
“The fun’s not infectious and the guests are a nightmare, and two hours of Melania feels like pure, endless hell,” wrote The Guardian’s Xan Brooks.
Only one critic has deemed the documentary deserving of a “fresh” rather than “rotten” label.
Reporting from Rolling Stone indicates two-thirds of the film’s New York-based crew didn’t want to be listed in the credits.
Projections for the $75 million dollar film’s opening weekend have ranged from $1 to $5 million. An analysis by WIRED found that, as of January 29, it had sold out at just two theaters nationwide out of 1,400 locations. Both were before 3pm.
(lead image photo credit: Amazon/MGM Studios)
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