Melania review - First Lady is a preening, scowling void of pure nothingness in this ghastly bit of propaganda

[demmiblue]

Melania Trump- born Melanija Knavs – has led an undeniably fascinating life. Raised in the 1970s, in what was then Yugoslavia, she grew up in a state-run housing complex in present-day Slovenia. A teenage modelling contract saw her whisked around Europe and then, in the Nineties, to the United States, where she eventually met the unassuming, mild-mannered property tycoon, Donald Trump. It is a journey that bridges Europe and America, an aspirational story of a little girl with nothing but a perfect jawline; the sort of tale that draws the eye of Hollywood. Of course, this is all information I have extracted from Melania Trump’s Wikipedia page, because it is strikingly absent from the new Amazon documentary, Melania, which has just received a mysterious theatrical release.

Instead, Melania focuses on 20 days running up to the second Trump inauguration in January 2025. “Everyone wants to know,” Melania growls in voiceover, “so here it is.” Perhaps her lack of specificity on what exactly people want to know is deliberate. The documentary – with a runtime of 104 minutes – covers everything from the design of place settings and the width of hat ribbons to her excitement for her son Barron’s hypothetical “beautiful family” and sadness at the 2024 death of her mother. “Not a day goes by when I don’t think about my mother,” she laments in the film’s signature voiceover, while the camera holds a shot of the coffin of President Carter. This is American history through the idiosyncratic prism of a woman who is part-puppet of the regime, part-delusional creative, and part-symbol of America’s immigrant community.

“The golden age of America begins right now!” Trump bleats in his inaugural address, while Melania sits behind him, her face twitching unnervingly between pout and smile. Woven through the documentary’s depiction of the events in the run-up to the Trumps’ return to the White House are signs of the film’s strange genesis. Melania’s chief of staff denies a request from Matt Belloni, the entertainment journalist, to hear more about her mysterious Amazon deal. At the banquet dinner on inauguration eve (where guests are served a gold egg and caviar, because, as a sycophantic designer tells the first lady, “white and gold is you!”) viewers will repeatedly spy Amazon proprietor Jeff Bezos alongside other oligarchs like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook. For the rights to tell this “story”, Amazon paid around $40m, including $28m directly to Mrs Trump. An expensive seat at an expensive table.

But bearing first-person witness to history is a valuable commodity. The reins of the film have been handed to Brett Ratner, the director of Rush Hour and Tower Heist. His career has stalled somewhat after allegations of sexual assault and harassment (which he has denied) were made in 2017 (he also made a recent cameo in the release of select parts of the Epstein files). But just as Trump is getting a second shot at the presidency, so too does Ratner get his second chance. Who is your favourite musician, Ratner (against whom there have been accusations of wrongdoing) asks Melania. She responds with “Michael Jackson” (against whom there have been accusations of wrongdoing), detailing how she met the late singer with her husband (against whom there have been accusations of wrongdoing). Perhaps this is Ratner’s vision for a modern American: a country of forgiveness.

https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/melania-trump-movie-review-documentary-b2911108.html

I love this for her. 😁

The UK is so good at reviews:

www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

— Trevor Foster (@darthfos.bsky.social) 2026-01-30T19:55:30.679Z

[SheltieLover]

1. Sounds vomit inducing, as expected

[underpants]

2. Third review I've seen. It sounds like a perfume commercial.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220983478

[SergeStorms]

3. Wait a minute.

"she eventually met the unassuming, mild-mannered property tycoon, Donald Trump."

Someone is smoothing Donny-boy's feathers as they're ruffling his "glamorous" mates at the same time.
I don't think it'll be enough to keep the writer from being incarcerated, or shot, should they ever set foot on U.S. soil, though.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. There's. About 12 tons of sarcasm in that statement.

[SergeStorms]

9. I think I screwed up.

That quote is from her Wikipedia page, not the review, and who knows who wrote that steaming pile of pig shit?

[allegorical oracle]

11. Almost didn't read it all because of that sentence. She's a powder puff, imo.

[musette_sf]

4. Typical

“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about my mother,” she laments in the film’s signature voiceover, while the camera holds a shot of the coffin of President Carter.

[Rebl2]

14. That's very

odd

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Anyone that is married to the POS in the WH is also a scumbag too. Takes one to know one. I wonder how much

tRUMP pays her annually?

[maxsolomon]

7. Now I understand why a documentary cost 40m to make.

28m direct to Melanoma.

And some people say it's not a bribe!

[IcyPeas]

8. Scowling Void

[True Dough]

10. Imagine being a kid and seeing those eyes

You'd have nightmares!

[twodogsbarking]

12. Melania from the block.

[Aviation Pro]

13. I think the vernacular is

She belongs on the streets.

[mdbl]

15. The first lady of the evening is a colossal waste of time and money

Just like her good-for-nothing husband.

[The Madcap]

16. This film has potential

As a midnight movie laugh-fest. Of course, they would need to cut the ticket price by 1000%... (Yes, I realize the theaters would have to pay people to go. I understand math).

[JohnnyRingo]

17. " Melania spends most scenes playing a staged version of herself...."

So they had to try and script a personality for her?

I'm beginning to think I live in a bad dream that makes no sense anymore,