Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday to a packed house and reportedly received an eight-minute standing ovation — but not everyone is applauding.
The film, directed by Ali Abbasi with a script by journalist Gabriel Sherman, chronicles the rise of Trump, played by Sebastian Stan (Pam and Tommy), as he navigates the cutthroat world of real estate in 1970s and 1980s New York City. His infamous mentor Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong (Image: Getty Images)Succession), and his first wife Ivana, played by Borat 2Emerging star Maria Bakalova are central figures in the film.
Critics were divided, with the Hollywood Reporter calling the film a “smart, sharp and surprising origin story,” while Deadline praised Stan’s portrayal of Trump as “oddly charming.” Both audiences and critics also pointed out an “explosive” robbery scene that sparked debate around the film. Meanwhile, as the real Trump sits in court for his ongoing hush money trial, his 2024 presidential campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, has gone so far as to call the film “trash” and “pure fiction.” ”.
The film would have been completed days before its premiere and is already generating controversy. Here’s what you need to know.
What is it The Apprentice about?
The title is a reference to the reality show starring and produced by Trump himself, which aired on NBC from 2004 to 2017. The film tells the former president’s origin story as a New York real estate developer before his foray into politics. It shows Trump building his empire under the influence of Cohn, a feared lawyer who took him under his wing and later died from AIDS-related complications in 1986, which is also highlighted in the film.
Cohn teaches Trump how to be ruthless and ruthless in business as the real estate mogul faces a rocky marriage to Ivanan addiction to pills and a distant father in fred trumpplayed by Martin Donovan.
How the film was received
From Tuesday, The Apprentice received a score of 52 out of 100 on Metacriticbased on nine reviews and a score of 69% on Rotten tomatoesbased on 13 reviews.
Several media outlets cited several “explosive” Scenes including an alleged rape, erectile dysfunction and Trump having hair transplant surgery as well as liposuction. Rolling Stone described the film as more of a love story between Trump and Cohn, equating it to films like Frankensteinabout a mad scientist who “Watch your creation transform into a monster.”
While the film isn’t exactly sympathetic to Trump, according to the New York Times, the outlet said it is an attempt to “at least explain”How he became one of the most polarizing political figures in history.
What are your stars saying?
On a written statement by Strong read aloud by Abbasi during a press conference in Cannes on Tuesday, the actor said the film offered insight into the psychology of Trump and his attacks on the media, which he said were shaped while learning to Trump under Cohn in the 1980s.
Stan admitted he “had to distance himself” from the current Trump to give an authentic performance from his early years: “There’s a lot to see and watch and read about the interviews he gave back then,” he said.
Bakalova, who plays Trump’s first wife Ivana, who died in July 2022 at age 73, said she “fell in love” with the Czechoslovakian-born model and businesswoman, whom she called “ahead of her time.”
“It’s inspiring to see someone pursuing their dreams and ambitions, driven by the idea of just achieving them,” said the Bulgarian-born actress.
As for showing the film to the former president, Abbasi said he is more than willing to do so.
“I don’t necessarily think this is a film he wouldn’t like,” the director said at the press conference. “I would offer to meet him wherever he wanted and talk about the context of the film, do a screening and talk afterwards – if that would be interesting to someone in the Trump campaign.”
A controversial rape scene
One scene in the film shows Trump telling Ivana that he is no longer attracted to her before throwing her to the ground and sexually assaulting her in his New York apartment. The scene sparked controversy at Cannes, according to Variety, with a female audience calling it “disgusting.”
In the 1993 book Tycoon Lost: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump, it was reported that Ivana revealed during her divorce deposition in the early 1990s that Trump raped her in 1989. She rejected these claims in 2015, insisting that the story is “completely without merit.”
NFL’s Dan Snyder is not happy
Billionaire Dan Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders and longtime donor to Trump’s political campaigns, was an investor in the film and believed it would be a flattering portrayal of Trump. After seeing a portion of the film in February, Snyder was “furious” about the rape scene, according to Variety, and began sending cease and desist letters to Kinematicswho produced the film.
Kinematics president Emanuel Nuñez, however, insists that Snyder was never involved in the creative aspects of the film: “All creative and business decisions involving The Apprentice have always been and continue to be made exclusively by Kinematics,” he told Variety.
Trump threatens to sue
Cheung, the Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement that Trump’s team is planning to file a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false claims by these fake filmmakers.”
“This rubbish is pure fiction that sensationalizes lies that have long been debunked,” he added. “This is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and defeat their preferred candidate because nothing they have done has worked.”
However, Abbasi remains unfazed by the threats.
“Donald’s team should wait to watch the film before they start suing us,” the director said at the Cannes press conference. “Everyone talks about him suing a lot of people. But they don’t talk about his success rate.”
When will the film be released?
From now on, The Apprentice does not have a distribution agreement in the US, according to the New York Times. However, the film was sold at Cannes to StudioCanal, who will release the film in the UK and Ireland later this year.
