‘Melania' documentary soars despite nightmare critical reception

The American First Lady Melania Trump has been immortalised in a new documentary, eponymously titled Melania, which was recently released under controversial circumstances.

Sparking criticism for its production alone, the film is additionally directed by Brett Ratner, who has been more or less blacklisted from Hollywood after facing multiple sexual misconduct allegations.

Despite the noise around it, the documentary’s opening was tracked to $8 million, described by the Hollywood Reporter as a “better-than-expected” figure.

The film, now showing in theatres, is mainly being contested by Sam Raimi’s Send Help and YouTuber Markiplier’s Iron Lung — the two films settling in for the first and second spot respectively.

It was further reported that 72% of Melania’s opening day audience included conservative voters over the age of 55, specifically women, from the South and South-central parts of the US.

The film also boasted a premiere in Washington DC on January 29, where the first lady was accompanied by her husband, Donald Trump.

Notably the result of a deal between Amazon and Melania Trump’s newly launched production company, Muse Films, the documentary is expected to stream on Prime close to the President’s Day weekend — February 14-16.

Meanwhile, the critical reception for the film was in stark contrast to its box office score, with most of the reviewers being unanimously negative while evaluating it.

THR labelled the film as “expensive propaganda doc,” adding that it “fawns so lavishly over its subject that you feel downright unpatriotic not gushing over it.”

While Variety scathingly defined Melania as feeling “like it’s been stitched together out of the most innocuous outtakes from a reality show.”