From "Provocative" to "Pointless" Donald Trump's Biopic 'The Apprentice' Divides the Critics

Amid the 2024 presidential elections and the Hush Money trial, a film on the Republican front-runner Donald Trump was just the right push for the politician's dominating media presence. The Apprentice is an account of his life before MAGA when he became a renowned New York businessman. Although the film received an 8-minute standing ovation at the Festival de Cannes, here's what the critics have to say. 

While some journalists applauded the film for its brilliant performances and transformations, others called it a repetition of what people have already been fed by the media. In a now-deleted post, New York Times editor Karl Delossantos tweeted on X (formerly Twitter), "The Apprentice is woefully bad — and worse, pointless. A melange of Wikipedia plot points mixed with Donald Trump sound bites we’ve heard a thousand times that feel forced in," per Yahoo! 

Meanwhile, Jason Gorber, the That Shelf film critic had more positive things to say about the film, "Origin story for the Orange one, the relationship between Master and Student revealed with a darkly comedic bent and Shakespearean tragic scope. Beautifully acted, terrific production design, a deep and provocative film that still manages to humanize." 

Another film critic, Brother Bro, was impressed by the lead actor Sebastian Stan's remarkable transformation as Trump, "Really liked The Apprentice! Sebastian Stan's performance exceeded my expectations. Left feeling like this was a truthful dive into the ethos that guides Trump and of corruption in general. Kinda spoon-feeds you, but it had a strong thesis and was well done." 

Apart from the film experts and journalists, more people shared their reactions to The Apprentice on X, formerly Twitter. @ScreenSlate compared the film to Johnny Depp, "The Apprentice is like the 2016 Johnny Depp Funny or Die Trump thing but worse and 2 hrs long." @henchman21 commented, "A reminder, you don't have to see every movie or even talk about every movie. This is about The Apprentice."

More criticism was followed by @filmwithyas who pointed out that the film needed more research considering the current political climate, "If you are going to make a film like THE APPRENTICE during an election year it better be brave enough to dive into the deep end, this is not. Sebastian Stan does well to evade a caricature-esqe performance & gets better by the minute. Editing & sound-mixing are evidently rushed." 

Regardless of how the film made people feel, Jeremy Strong won nearly everyone's hearts as Roy Cohn. For instance, @FerideMercury sang praises, "The Apprentice is just too shallow to be taken seriously but my man Jeremy Strong once again overdid the assignment. He’s like this hardworking kid who writes 20-page essays for a simple homework." 

@thethirdhan echoed the same sentiment, "The Apprentice: just because you've cast Jeremy Strong doesn't mean you need to rip off the Succession score!!!!" 

The Apprentice debuted at the 77th Cannes Film Festival with multiple standing ovations from the audience. However, hours after the film premiered, the Trump campaign threatened a "defamation" lawsuit against the film's production in a statement to Variety by the Republican front-runner's spokesperson Steven Cheung.