By Isabel Lee
Copy Editor
“Melania” follows the First Lady through the twenty days before the 2025 presidential inauguration, providing her perspective on the political and personal turmoil behind the scenes. The film was released Jan. 30, with its opening weekend bringing in $7 million—a surprising box office revenue considering its documentary genre. The number holds up until it’s put against the $75 million budget Amazon MGM Studios paid for rights, production, and advertising. A month later, it’s unclear whether the cost was money well spent.
Exhibitor Relations box office analyst Jeff Bock called the purchase a “clear overspend and reach for political reasons,” saying MGM is “paying for access to the Donald Trump party.” The Hollywood Reporter called it “Amazon’s $75 million corporate bribe.”
Controversy has arisen over whether “Melania” can even be labeled as a documentary, rather than plain propaganda. Reviews on known platforms display odd patterns—such as the discrepancy between Rotten Tomatoes’ widely negative Critic ratings and their 5-star filled Verified Audience section. A representative of Rotten Tomatoes has since denied tampering, claiming “no bot manipulation.”
It became very apparent, very quickly, that the captain went down far before his ship. “For his comeback,” The New Yorker’s Lauren Collins described Brett Ratner as having “summoned all the artistic ambition of a local Realtor who just got a drone.” The “comeback” that Collins is referring to is “Melania” being Ratner’s first major directorial project since he was accused of sexual misconduct by several women in 2017. Ironically, his “comeback” Jan. 30 release date doubled as that of further documents relating to the Epstein Files, in which Ratner was photographed next to Epstein himself.
“Melania” is currently playing in theaters, after which it will stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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