Melania Is the Nightmare End Point of Celebrity Docs

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We created this situation ourselves. While we, as a democracy, are responsible for all outcomes, including a potential second Trump presidency, I’m specifically talking about the new film Melania. This documentary about Melania Trump, the former First Lady, was released yesterday amidst considerable controversy. The film, directed by Brett Ratner – a director who hasn’t worked since 2014 due to sexual assault allegations – garnered attention because Amazon paid a remarkable $40 million for it, and spent almost as much again on advertising. This huge cost felt less like a business investment and more like a payment to someone with power. Melania likely won’t earn back its cost at the box office, but that doesn’t matter. It can fail to attract audiences and still be considered a success, given the questionable reasons behind its creation.

The theater wasn’t very full last night – maybe 40 percent. The audience seemed to be split between supporters of Donald Trump and those who came to criticize the film. This wasn’t unexpected. Melania, the documentary, follows its subject for the 20 days before the 2025 inauguration. It’s not a loud, aggressive pro-Trump film, though it does take a few jabs at the Biden administration with unflattering images of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Instead, it subtly aims to present Melania Trump as a glamorous celebrity. It feels like many other popular celebrity documentaries – like the ones about the Beckhams, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, or Arnold Schwarzenegger – which often function more as promotional material than genuine films. The movie tries to establish Melania as someone so fascinating that viewers will sit through a surprisingly dull and repetitive story of her travels between cars, planes, and meetings.

Melania Trump begins a new documentary, simply titled Melania, by stating she’s finally going to answer everyone’s questions. However, this is surprising coming from someone who remained largely private during her husband’s presidency, known mostly for her distinctive holiday decorations and a somewhat puzzling public awareness campaign. The documentary focuses on surprisingly trivial details – her preference for certain blouse necklines, her favorite color scheme, and her love of Michael Jackson. It follows a familiar pattern seen in many celebrity documentaries: the promise of exclusive access, but with everything carefully controlled. We’re offered glimpses of vulnerability in exchange for accepting that what we’re seeing is a curated version of reality.

Melania seems to be attempting a similar approach, but fails to demonstrate any genuine substance behind her polished exterior. Her narration consists of repetitive and empty statements, such as emphasizing the importance of “timeless elegance” in the inauguration’s design. She is always perfectly presented, and her range of expressions seems limited to a professional smile and a blank face. In one scene, the filmmaker focuses intently on her eyes while she watches news coverage of the Los Angeles fires, seemingly trying to capture some hint of emotion that isn’t there.

Though he never appears on camera, director Ratner occasionally directs from behind the scenes, and at one point, desperately tries to get Melania Trump to sing along to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” during a car ride – a moment that highlights his realization the footage isn’t very strong. An attempt to show a more vulnerable side of the First Lady by focusing on her mother’s recent passing feels strangely unauthentic. The scene of Melania visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral to light a candle is so polished it resembles an advertisement, and her acceptance of a priest’s blessing feels as automatic and detached as accepting a warm towel on a flight.

The contrast between Melania’s carefully neutral statements and the events of the past year since the documentary was filmed is striking. This is especially true when she speaks about her experience as an immigrant and the importance of protecting individual rights. However, those who seek out this documentary aren’t likely to notice or care how out of touch it is with current events, or how little genuine connection it offers. This type of celebrity documentary isn’t made for a broad audience; it’s designed for devoted fans who see watching it as another way to support the person it features.

The movie, despite its attempts, fails to portray Melania Trump as the glamorous figure it seems to aspire to, but that’s not why people are watching. The real draw is her husband, who appears sporadically and, admittedly, injects some energy into the film because he understands how to work the camera. It’s little comfort knowing that Trump, who has claimed to have seen the movie twice, likely found it just as boring as I did. While Melania has been called an audience of one, it’s clear her preferred viewing leans towards the director’s previous films, and a fourth Rush Hour movie seems far more likely than the success of this self-indulgent project.

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2026-01-31 23:54