‘Melania’ Documentary Breaks Rotten Tomatoes Record as Most Polarizing Movie Ever After 99% RT Audience Score

The Brett Ratner-directed documentary about how Melania Trump spent her time in the lead-up to the second inauguration of President Donald Trump in January 2025 was never going to get an easy ride. Having already been labeled a massive piece of propaganda filmmaking, a self-indulgent scam, and many other such thoughtful and praise-filled statements, as soon as it was revealed that the documentary cost $40 million to make and netted Melania herself a hefty $28 million, opinions from the mainstream media – and almost anyone who has not tightly attached themselves to Donald Trump’s side like a boil – were never going to be positive.

So, despite being shut out of a screening of Melania at the Thursday premiere, when critics finally had a chance to see it, it is not surprising that the film generated an atrocious 7% Rotten Tomatoes score as it was branded “shallow,” “dull,” and “simply terrible” with almost no positivity to be found in anything on display in the “two-hour bland infomercial for the future death of democracy.” By the end of Saturday, the score had increased slightly to 11%.

Audiences Have Scored ‘Melania’ as One of the Best Movies of the Year

So, why does the movie have a 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes? The cynical reader could assume that these are reviews from people who have been paid for their contribution, or in some other way coerced into spreading positive word about the release. However, the answer is probably much simpler. Ahead of the film’s release on Friday, it was reported across several outlets that screenings of the movie planned in non-Republican states were practically empty, with extremely low pre-booking numbers. However, in Trump’s home state, and areas heavily supportive of the Trump administration, there were sold-out screenings in several cities.

This means that the majority of those paying to see the movie in cinemas willingly did so with complete faith in the name Trump, and like any adoring public, nothing would prevent them from hailing it as the greatest documentary ever made. Which is exactly what has happened.

With an original 7% critic score (and even its current 11% at time of writing) alongside its 99% audience score, while the movie has been a complete financial disaster despite being hailed as “the #1 documentary of the last decade” by the First Lady, at least it has the honor of having the largest division in opinion on Rotten Tomatoes, a record that it will probably be holding onto for a very long time.

The film is on course to make $8 million during its opening weekend, higher than the projected $5 million expected. However, this is along way short of the $75 million spent on it when immense marketing costs are added in. With a follow-up TV show also factored into the deal, and a switch to Prime Video for the movie in the near future, we have certainly not seen the last of Melania just yet, and no doubt we will be hearing much more about how great the movie is doing from its subject and her husband.