Triumph Of The Bill: Amazon’s $75 Million ‘Melania’ Movie Is A Corrupt, Fascistic Cinema Fest

In the 104 minutes of the movie “Melania,” there are only two real hints of how dangerous our world and politics have become. 

The supposed documentary on First Lady Melania Trump is largely set in the 20 days before her husband, President Donald Trump, returned to office for the second time last January. At one point, the couple are seen with staffers discussing grand plans for “a million” people to line the streets of Washington for the swearing-in ceremony. Staffers inform the family that they will ride in a motorcade along Pennsylvania Avenue and that, as per tradition, they will have a few opportunities to get out of the car and wave at the crowd. 

Despite assurances that the Secret Service believes this will be “safe,” Melania — and her son, Barron Trump — are clearly not convinced. 

“How could that be safe? Especially with the last year, what’s going on and stuff,” Melania says during the meeting. “I have concerns, honestly, and I know Barron will not go out of the car. I respect that. That’s his decision. We need to talk about it. Are we doing it or not?”

The scene hints at the increased violence and tensions that have accompanied Trump’s return to power, which have included assassination attempts, widespread protests and — in the weeks before the film opened — multiple high profile killings by federal agents. Ultimately, Trump’s second inauguration was moved indoors. In voiceover narration for the movie, Melania only briefly acknowledges this shift and attributes it entirely to winter weather.

“Instead of the traditional parade through Washington, D.C., the public celebration was held inside the Capital One Arena. The extreme cold made it a practical decision, but in truth, I was relieved,” Melania says, adding “Being in a more secure, enclosed space brought a certain peace of mind.”

Throughout the last decade, as her husband took power and transformed American politics into his own image, Melania has largely managed to remain behind closed doors. A former fashion model from Slovenia, she is largely present in public life as a silent figure with custom couture and an impassive gaze. This documentary, which she helped produce, does little to crack that facade. Much of it shows the first lady fitting and fussing over her inaugural dress, which the designers assure her will have no visible seams. The movie was clearly similarly designed to have no messy threads. And yet, at one other moment, one poked through. 

As Melania and her husband are shown standing with the departing President Joe Biden and his wife, the audience can faintly hear a question from an unseen reporter shouting at the man making way for the Trumps.

“Will America survive?”

It’s a question that has yet to be answered, as Trump spent his first year back in office dismantling the government, cashing out at an unprecedented level, suppressing history, and unleashing federal troops on American cities as part of a wave of deportations and detentions. In fact, the reporter who posed that query to Trump and Biden — the individual is not shown — may well have been removed from the White House press pool, which the president has stocked with favorable, far-right outlets. 

All of these concerns went unexamined in the first lady’s documentary, which was just the latest offering from Trumpworld’s robust propaganda machine. Yet, since we live in the real world, the stress and terror of the second Trump era remain inescapable even when trying to take in the party line. On the way into Manhattan to catch the first available showing of the movie on Friday morning, my phone buzzed with rapid response alerts. Protesters were rushing out as Trump’s ICE agents took people off the streets in Sunset Park, a neighborhood in Brooklyn with a large population of immigrants. Even inside the theater, the mounting opposition to Trump’s agenda was palpable. 

At the concession stand, I noticed they were selling large commemorative popcorn buckets emblazoned with Melania’s face. It’s part of a massive marketing campaign that brought a distinctly fascistic flavor to city streets, with billboards featuring the first lady’s portrait looming over street corners. Yet, at my screening, this effort to cultivate a cult of personality wasn’t quite taking. When I asked the two women selling snacks if anyone had bought the buckets, I received an emphatic response.

“No — and I hope not,” one of them said, 

Her colleague chimed in. 

“She’s worth nothing and everyone that voted for her is going to realize they made a terrible mistake,” she said. 

“And they had the audacity to make it $13,” the first woman added. 

I opted for a small popcorn in a standard bag. 

In its attempts to gloss over all of these simmering tensions, “Melania” the movie is almost aggressively uninsightful. We learn that the first lady’s “favorite recording artist” is Michael Jackson. The audience is repeatedly informed that Barron, who barely says a single audible word in front of the cameras, is tall. We learn about the first lady’s favorite colors, although even that information isn’t quite clear. At one point, we are told Melania’s theme is “white and gold” and, at another, she declares “my colors” are black and white. Melania’s signature “Be Best” initiative is also mentioned many times but its purpose is not articulated any better on screen than it has been in Washington. 

The sole revelations to be found in “Melania” are about how brazen the Trumps are and about their all encompassing, incredible lack of self awareness. With so much of the movie taking place in the days leading up to the inauguration, Melania is shown tromping around the gilded confines of the family’s private residences; the deranged rococo Florida beach club, Mar-a-Lago, and their obscene mirrored apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower. The homes display the kind of opulence that has long been associated with authoritarian regimes. Yet, while other dictatorial leaders like Saddam Hussein, the Marcoses in the Philippines, and the Mubaraks in Egypt largely had the decency to hide their luxurious lifestyles from the people until they were overthrown, Melania shamelessly and deliberately parades her treasures before the cameras in a film she helped produce. 

Opulent architecture and amenities aren’t the only brazen element of the “Melania” movie. The entire financing and distribution of the documentary has often been likened to a naked bribe, delivered to the Trumps by one of the world’s richest men. “Melania” was financed and distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, which is a subsidiary of the online retail giant owned by centibillionaire Jeff Bezos. Amazon is widely reported to have spent a record $40 million to license the movie. According to the Wall Street Journal, as one of the movie’s producers, the first lady personally made $28 million from the deal. On top of that, the studio spent a reported $35 million on distribution and the marketing campaign that left Melania’s steely glare staring out from billboards on streets around the country. 

Hollywood insiders say that math simply doesn’t make sense. Richard Rushfield, a columnist and founder of The Ankler newsletter, which covers the entertainment industry, has chronicled how Bezos and other magnates are cozying up to the Trumps. In a conversation with TPM, he pointed out that last year’s top grossing documentary was the official film for pop star Taylor Swift’s latest album. 

“It’s about Taylor Swift, the most popular artist on the planet — and that made 34 million, so that made less than what they paid for this,” Rushfield explained. 

With “Melania” likely needing to nearly triple Swift’s numbers just for Amazon to break even, Rushfield said it’s hard not to view the project as a corrupt payoff. 

“This price tag for one single documentary film is pretty extraordinary and I’ve never, never encountered — never heard of something at that level,” he said. “So, it’s pretty blatant.”

Tammy Golihew, the head of public relations for Amazon MGM Studios, did not respond to emails from TPM asking how they believe the movie will justify its eight-figure price tag and whether the deal with the first family is appropriate given Bezos’ other business interests. The questions about the cash also briefly appear in one scene of the documentary, as a member of Melania’s team is shown shooting down a question from Puck reporter Matt Belloni about the unusual deal. As the staffer dutifully takes down the details of the inquiry, a nervous male voice pipes in from off camera. While the speaker is not identified, it sounds distinctly like the documentary’s disgraced director, Brett Ratner, who is credited with filming some of the footage himself. 

“You’re not connecting them to anybody right?” he asks. “Those Hollywood people.”

“No!” the staffer says emphatically.

“Do you trust them?” he asks.

“Absolutely not!” the staffer replies. 

In Melania’s world, the questions about the cash from Bezos are evidently unwelcome. 

Bezos himself makes silent appearances in the movie at several moments including as a guest at an inaugural dinner. Melania was filmed planning these lavish festivities and orchestrating a menu that began with a “golden egg and caviar.” At one of the moments when Bezos flashed across the screen, Melania delivers narration acknowledging the financial backers who have made her and her husband’s rise a reality. 

“It’s so powerful to see this room come to life tonight: candlelight, black tie, and my complete creative vision filled with the elegance and sophistication of our donors,” Melania says. “They are truly the driving force behind the campaign and its philosophy, the reason our victory is possible.”

While Melania and her donors may see their vision reflected in her documentary, it’s unclear what the public will take from the film — or how many regular people will see it at all. At the screening I attended on Friday morning, there were twelve attendees. All but two of them were journalists.

“Anyone here not a reporter?” one member of the press asked before the lights went down. 

One woman raised her hand and sheepishly explained she was an acquaintance of Hervé Pierre, the French designer who can be seen dressing and fitting Melania throughout the film. 

“I’m here because my friend Hervé is in the movie,” the woman said, quickly adding, “I’m not a Trumper, for the record.”

She also tried to get Pierre some distance from the president. 

“He’s dressed every first lady, not just her,” the woman said, unprompted.

While the Trumps clearly have no shame operating in their seamless, well appointed, and enclosed spaces, it appears clear others in their circle who are living closer to the real world are beginning to feel the heat. 

After the credits rolled, the reporters at the screening realized that one man in the room was a fan of the first lady. He was quickly swarmed by members of the media wielding audio recorders. Personally, I skipped that scrum. After nearly two hours watching “Melania,” I had heard far more than enough from inside the pro-Trump alternate universe.