The reviews are in for Melania, Brett Ratner‘s documentary following the First Lady through the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration. Critics and audiences appear to have watched two entirely different films.
As of Friday evening, the documentary holds a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes from 15 critic reviews and a 99% audience score from over 100 verified ratings. That’s a 92-point gap — the kind of split you almost never see on the platform.
On Metacritic, it’s even uglier. The film sits at a 4 out of 100, which the site classifies as “overwhelming dislike.” For perspective, Rotten Tomatoes maintains a list of the 100 worst-reviewed films of all time. The cutoff to make that list is 4% or lower.
Only one of the 15 critics gave the film a positive review. No press screeners were sent out beforehand. Every critic who reviewed it had to buy a ticket.
What the Critics Said
They didn’t hold back.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman called it an “orchestrated, airbrushed” piece of work that “barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.” The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck said the film “fawns so lavishly over its subject that you feel downright unpatriotic not gushing over it.” The Guardian’s Catherine Shoard described it as “exhaustingly boring and chillingly vain,” noting the First Lady appeared to have “no friends” and lived what amounted to “an entirely airless existence.”
“Melania” is a documentary that never comes to life, an orchestrated and airbrushed “portrait” that barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial and feels stitched together out of the most innocuous reality show outtakes. Studiously celebratory and purged of drama or… pic.twitter.com/zVhIxNQmWT
— Variety (@Variety) January 30, 2026
The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert said Ratner “seems desperate to find action, but there is none.” BuzzFeed’s Stephanie McNeal called it the worst film she had ever seen.
On Letterboxd, the social film platform with over 17 million users, the documentary has already drawn more than 3,400 reviews. It currently sits at 1.2 out of 5 stars, with 93% of reviewers giving it the lowest possible rating.
What the Audiences Said
@rachel.writeside.blondeI loved MELANIA, the movie 🍿♬ Snowy Morning – FREDERIC BOUCHAL
The people who actually showed up told a very different story.
The 99% Popcornmeter — Rotten Tomatoes’ verified audience metric — suggests near-universal approval from ticketed viewers. That kind of divide between professional critics and general audiences isn’t new for politically charged releases. But 92 points is extreme by any measure.
The Box Office Twist
Leading up to opening day, everything pointed to a disaster. A WIRED analysis of nearly 1,400 Fandango screenings found the film had sold out at exactly two theaters nationwide — one in Vero Beach, Florida, and one in Independence, Missouri. Screenshots of empty auditoriums spread across social media. A theater in Minnesota pulled its screenings entirely.
Then Friday happened. The documentary brought in nearly $3 million on its opening day alone, powered largely by ticket sales in Texas, Florida, and rural markets. It’s now tracking toward an $8 million opening weekend — which would make it the strongest opening for a documentary in roughly ten years, ahead of After Death, which opened to $5 million in 2023.
🚨 WATCH: First Lady Melania Trump just sold-out another theater in Michigan, selling out a screening of her new “Melania” movie.pic.twitter.com/lVIt6f35fk
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) January 31, 2026
Abroad, the reception has been cooler. One Guardian journalist in the U.K. reported being the only person in the theater for a morning showing. South Africa pulled the film from cinemas entirely before it opened, with the local distributor citing “recent developments.”
At Thursday’s premiere, the First Lady announced a follow-up docuseries is already in production. “We are coming out with a docuseries,” she told reporters on the black carpet. “Completely new footage.” It’s expected in a few months.
She described her film as “beautiful,” “emotional,” “fashionable,” and “cinematic.” The critics, it seems, disagree on all four counts.
