“Melania” breaks record for critic-audience discrepancy | Drudge Retort

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

“Melania” breaks record for critic-audience discrepancy

If you needed an example of the disconnect between legacy media and the country at large, look no further than "Melania." The new documentary on Melania Trump follows the first lady in the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration " and her second stint calling the White House home. The critics HATE it, giving it a lousy score of just 10%, according to Rotten Tomatoes (compare that with the 93% score critics gave the 2020 documentary "Becoming" about former first lady Michelle Obama). Yet, the Americans heading to the theater to watch "Melania" have a vastly different takeaway. They've given it a score of 99%. This discrepancy has broken the film rating site's 27-year record.

Posted by BellRinger at 12:29 PM | 29 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

"The critics HATE it, giving it a lousy score of just 10%, Yet, the Americans heading to the theater to watch "Melania" have a vastly different takeaway. They've given it a score of 99%. This discrepancy has broken the film rating site's 27-year record."

You mean because people who willingly their money to a Trump gold digger might be brainwashed morons?

Or is this just another one of your troll posts that you take such pride in?

#1 | Posted by censored at 2026-02-10 12:42 PM

100% of ------------ cop killers gave "Melanoma" a bigly thumbs up.

#2 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2026-02-10 12:47 PM

"They've given it a score of 99%."

If you don't think that's a manipulation, you're a complete and total moron.

Even using Republican Math it's a scam.

#3 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-02-10 12:48 PM

A Hillsdale College "attendee" and an apologist for white supremacy.

Not at all surprising that bell boi would present her as something legitimate.

#4 | Posted by A_Friend at 2026-02-10 12:51 PM

It was directed by a dual-citizen rapist so I'd expect 30-70 million supposedly conservative morons to simply adore it.

#5 | Posted by pumpkinhead at 2026-02-10 01:00 PM

Yet, the Americans heading to the theater to watch "Melania" have a vastly different takeaway. They've given it a score of 99%

OSTED BY BELLRINGER

Come on, man. Everyone knows that's a lie.

Jesus. People don't even give the movie "Casablanca" a 99%

WTF is wrong with you?

#6 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-10 01:09 PM

'Melania" is MAGA's unique version of Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ".

#7 | Posted by pumpkinhead at 2026-02-10 01:14 PM

FFS calm down. I felt this is interesting. Lots of possible reasons for the discrepancy. As always y'all read WAY too much into it.

#8 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-02-10 01:16 PM

"They've given it a score of 99%."

These are the same people who believe Trump is in the Epstein Files.

#9 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-10 01:18 PM

...isn't in the Epstein Files.
(Everybody knew what I meant.)

#10 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-10 01:18 PM

The documentary Melania is widely considered a box office failure after a 67% second-weekend drop, grossing only about $13.35 million in two weeks against an estimated $75 million in production and marketing costs.

www.slashfilm.com

#11 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-10 01:19 PM

People don't even give the movie "Casablanca" a 99%

It gets about a three percent from Melania lovers.

Casablanca it extremely unfair to the Law and Order First Responders depicted in the film.

#12 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-10 01:19 PM

"Lots of possible reasons for the discrepancy."

Name the ones you believe most responsible.

#13 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-02-10 01:22 PM

" Name the ones you believe most responsible.

#13 | POSTED BY DANFORTH AT 2026-02-10 01:22 PM | FLAG: "

The most obvious for the high score is the actual audience. Outside of critics how many on the left are going to actually watch this film? So a bunch of MAGA types go and watch this and then give it a positive score? Shocking! /s

Another obvious is institutional bias. This could be an absolute masterpiece and it would never gotten anything more than a failing grade from critics.

Those are the two biggest IMO.

#14 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-02-10 01:32 PM

This could be an absolute masterpiece

LOL.

#15 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-02-10 01:42 PM

The most obvious for the high score is the actual audience.

14 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

So, the sample size is what? 800 nationwide?

Whether you realize it or not, you're getting close to the reason no one likes you.

#16 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-10 01:53 PM

This could be an absolute masterpiece

#14 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

You didn't see it.

#17 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-10 01:54 PM

This could be an absolute masterpiece
#14 | POSTED BY BELLRINGER

The director ----- kids.
So yeah, maybe it's as good as a Roman Polanski movie.

#18 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-10 02:05 PM

" So, the sample size is what? 800 nationwide?"

$7 million in the first weekend.

And when I said it "could" be masterpiece that comment was purely hypothetical. My point was critics were going to pan it no matter what.

#19 | Posted by BellRinger at 2026-02-10 02:23 PM

AUDIENCE? WHAT AUDIENCE??

What a fool. Bulk ticket sales and empty theaters.

------- MAGAT dumbass.

"$7 million in the first weekend."

It cost $75 million to make, and it cratered the second weekend.

You ------- ------.

#20 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-02-10 02:34 PM

$7 million in the first weekend.

$7 million @ $20 a ticket.

So like 350,000 people. Nationwide.

Or .001% of America.

So literally the most diehard cultists went.

#21 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-10 02:39 PM

Re: #14

Ironically, this post displayed the real point:

You were going to promote some silver lining' no matter what.

#22 | Posted by TrueBlue at 2026-02-10 02:43 PM

They should have stuck with the original movie title, "--------- Get Rich!"

Or, "Melania, Epstein's favorite honeypot."

#23 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-10 02:45 PM

Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935) garners an 84/71 critics/audience score on Rotten Tomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com).

#24 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-02-10 03:08 PM

"Triumph of the Will (1935)"

The Birth Of A Nation (1915) gets good reviews too.
So does American History X (1998).
So, it's probably not getting panned because it accurately depicts racism or anything like that...

#25 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-10 03:46 PM

No doubt there is a great documentary to be made about Melania Knauss, the ambitious model from out of Slovenia who married a New York real-estate mogul and then found herself cast in the role of a latter-day Eva Braun, but the horrific Melania emphatically isn't it. It's one of those rare, unicorn films that doesn't have a single redeeming quality. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a documentary, exactly, so much as an elaborate piece of designer taxidermy, horribly overpriced and ice-cold to the touch and proffered like a medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.

I did go read some of the reviews.

#26 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-02-10 03:46 PM

"Spending upwards of $75 million on 'Melania' is not about art, it's about positioning," Exhibitor Relations box-office analyst Jeff Bock told Business Insider. "It certainly feeds news cycles and gets viral discourse, but 'Melania' is really a corporate chess move with a human brand as the piece. This is access and leverage for Amazon, plain and simple."

As of Sunday, Melania has made almost half of what Amazon gave Melania to make the film.

#27 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-02-10 04:14 PM

Made from who? It ain't from people actually watching it. Unless you count the poor SOB's in the military.

#28 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-02-10 09:05 PM

Yet, the Americans heading to the theater to watch "Melania" have a vastly different takeaway.

All four of them?

#29 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-02-12 08:40 AM

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