The Melania conundrum: 99% audience rating and a critical bloodbath

Nathan Jolly

February 9, 2026 6:12

The Melania conundrum: 99% audience rating and a critical bloodbath

Melania's US box office dropped 67% in its second weekend

Rotten Tomatoes has been forced to issue a statement defending the gulf between the 8% critics rating the Melania documentary has received and the 99% audience review aggregate on its platform, leading many to question if the results for the latter had been manipulated.

The film review site issued a statement denying the vote for Melania — which charts the First Lady’s life during the three weeks before Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration — had been hijacked.

“There has been NO manipulation on the audience reviews for the Melania documentary,” Rotten Tomatoes said.

“Reviews displayed on the Popcornmeter are VERIFIED reviews, meaning it has been verified that users have bought a ticket to the film through Fandango.”

Over a thousand MAGA fans can’t be wrong

As the Hollywood Reporter notes, the 99% isn’t that shocking when one considers the scores are from those who chose to buy a ticket, and then upload a review.

For context: a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ percentage reflects what proportion of critics had an overall positive view of the film (ie 3 out of 5 stars). In contrast, the audience rating indicates the proportion of verified viewers of the film who click the “like” button.

The critical reviews of the film are divided between positive takes from right-leaning publications (The Epoch Times, The London Evening Standard and The Spectator) and scathing commentary from more numerous left-wing mastheads like The Guardian and The Atlantic, the latter of which called the film “a disgrace”, writing, “Melania the movie isn’t a documentary; it’s a protection racket.”

Meanwhile, Amazon MGM has also defended a massive second-week box office drop for the documentary.

In the US, the film enjoyed an opening weekend gross of US$10.98m (A$15.6m) — impressive numbers for a documentary, but well short of the reported US$75m (A$107.2m) Amazon MGM paid to licence and promote the film.

In Australia, the film made just $32,399 in its opening weekend.

Melania’s second-week box office was US$2.37m (A$3.37m), representing a 67% slide in ticket sales.

As Variety notes, Super Bowl weekend is historically a low-grossing period for US cinema; none of the major studios released films, and the top-grossing movie — Sam Raimi’s survival thriller Send Help — brought in just US$10m, compared to its US$19.1m debut.

A captivating still from Melania

Nevertheless, Amazon MGM felt the need to defend its pricey purchase of the film, in a statement issued over the weekend.

“Melania’s’ strong theatrical performance is a critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy, building awareness, engagement, and provides momentum ahead of the film’s eventual debut on Prime Video,” said Amazon MGM’s head of domestic theatrical distribution, Kevin Wilson.

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“Together, theatrical and streaming represent two distinct value creating moments that amplify the film’s overall impact. Audience response is already validating this approach, with exit data showing strong intent to rewatch on Prime Video and meaningful interest in the forthcoming docuseries.

“That interest is further amplified by the theatrical marketing halo we consistently see drive increased awareness and viewership once films launch on Prime Video, reinforcing long-term value across the movie’s entire lifecycle.”