![\"Karl](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a4f8ff87c18a5cd77f68e2e5bec557af09704ee24d7ae5e480221fbe9f8c0dfa.png\")
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January 30, 2026 \u2014 7:55pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Melania, \u2605\u2605\u00bd Presumably, Melania is meant to show us the woman behind the woman behind the man. It\u2019s a lavish, beautifully shot documentary that deploys many of the tropes of commercial cinema (director Brett Ratner\u2019s principle stomping ground until accusations of sexual assault \u2013 which he has denied \u2013 derailed his career in 2017). But actual revelations and insights into the first lady of the United States (FLOTUS, for short) are as thin on the ground as the hairs are on her husband\u2019s head.<\/p>\n Melania Trump was a model before she became the girlfriend of property developer Donald Trump circa 1998. Born in Slovenia, she grew up watching her seamstress mother devote herself to the business of making things beautiful.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother\u2019s fashion talent and expertise cultivated my deep appreciation for great design,\u201d she says in the voice-over narration that guides us through the 20 days leading up to her husband\u2019s inauguration (his second) as president in January 2025. \u201cFrom her wisdom, I grew to honour the craft, treasure the artistry, and respect the level of perfection required to create timeless pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n Melania\u2019s dedication to the finely honed surface of things is evident in every frame of this film, which she produced. It opens, after a sweeping drone shot across the ocean and onto the Trumps\u2019 Florida palace, Mar-a-Lago, with a fitting for the outfit she will wear on January 20.<\/p>\n Soon after, we\u2019re invited to marvel at the embossed A4 invitation and the gold-accented tableware for the candlelight dinner, thrown to honour \u201cthe elegance and sophistication of our donors \u2026 the driving force behind the campaign and its philosophy, the reason our victory is possible\u201d.<\/p>\n Later, at said dinner, we see some of the guests: Elon Musk is among them. So too is Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon.<\/p>\n Bezos\u2019 company paid $US40 million ($57 million) to acquire the rights to this film, of which $US28 million went straight to its subject. It is reportedly spending another $US35 million to market it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s about 106 million in Aussie dollars, an extraordinary amount for what one might charitably term a vanity project, and uncharitably term softball propaganda for an administration that is edging ever closer to fascism by the day. But for influence and a slice of the space business (in which Bezos and Musk are fierce rivals), it\u2019s probably a cut-price deal.<\/p>\n Melania talks a lot about the importance of family \u2013 and of her son, Barron, especially. She talks about her good works, which focus mostly on child welfare (her Be Best campaign targeted cyberbullying; her Fostering the Future program aims, among other things, to get foster children into tertiary education). And she espouses values that are hard to argue with, framing them through the prism of an immigrant who has made good.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone should do what they can to protect our individual rights,\u201d she says near the film\u2019s end. \u201cNever take them for granted because in the end, no matter where we come from, we are bound by the same humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n Precisely how she tallies that with the version of America her husband is busy creating is anyone\u2019s guess, because other than those motherhood statements, what she thinks or feels is largely off limits.<\/p>\n She is, though, thoroughly committed to playing the role of dutiful and beautiful wife, paraded endlessly beside a smug and smirking Trump, holding his hand, dancing robotically at ball after ball. The insights into the pomp and ceremony of the inauguration are genuinely interesting, though. And the scene in which Melania breaks into a disco jig as YMCA comes on is a refreshing and rare moment of (seemingly) unscripted levity.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThere is much to accomplish in the next four years,\u201d she says at the film\u2019s end. Promising to \u201cserve the American people once again\u201d, she vows \u201cI will move forward with purpose, and of course, with style\u201d.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to argue on the second point. Melania is all about those perfect teeth, that great hair, that catwalk-friendly silhouette. But it\u2019s impossible not to feel that the real purpose of this portrait is not insight, but rather distraction from the awfulness and corruption of her husband\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
In select cinemas <\/p>\n![\"Melania](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ccaa5a7646054d9ac61d7f67b5036b600e4c923c.jpeg\")
Melania Trump in a scene from the documentary Melania.AP<\/p>\n![\"Melania](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a80ef3ec6a6c0e5745aeaed228f4112834e458b7.jpeg\")
Melania and Donald Trump slow dance at one of the inauguration balls. Amazon <\/p>\n![\"Human](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769772671_376_10d608728943c85b6e42d36dcc08ffb4706d58bb.jpeg\")
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