'Melania' isn't a documentary. It's a cynical and stupefying piece of political propaganda
What’s the difference between Brett Ratner and Leni Riefenstahl? Riefenstahl, for all her many sins, was technically innovative; Ratner (unless you count an almost fetishistic fascination with first lady footwear), not so much.
But in the end, they are both political propagandists, collaborators if you will, with heads of state determined to create a narrative that is, at best, at odds with reality and, at worst, a targeted attempt to distort it.
Am I saying that “Melania” is as horrifically significant as “Triumph of the Will”? No, I am not. But it is motivated by the same base forces, and as fun as it might be to watch Jeff Bezos lose most of the $75 million Amazon paid for the purchase and then marketing of the film, it is important to remember that.
As Melania Trump said herself at the film’s premiere: “Some have called this a documentary. It is not. It is a creative experience that offers perspectives, insights and moments.”
A “creative experience” for which the first lady, who serves as narrator and executive producer, reportedly received about $28 million.
Money she very much does not earn.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-01-31/melania-documentary-amazon-political-propaganda