Donald Trump is the talk of le town. The controversial movie “The Apprentice,” depicting the former president’s rise to fame in New York high society during the 1970s, premiered Monday at the Cannes Film Festival in France to a glamorous crowd including Cate Blanchett and Bella Hadid. The movie received a standing ovation ranging from eight to 11 minutes, according to accounts.
In the drama, Sebastian Stan plays a younger Trump as he meets power lawyer and fixer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong of “Succession”) and first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”). While his political ambitions are said to be hinted at, “The Apprentice” does not cover the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections or Trump’s four years in the White House. It also has nothing to do with the NBC reality TV series he hosted.
What it does have, according to viewers, are shocks aplenty. During one cringey scene, Trump is said to get liposuction and a hair transplant. And, in another jarring moment, he violently rapes Ivana.
Trump’s late ex-wife really did allege a sexual assault in her 1989 divorce deposition, but later retracted the claim in 2015 as he was running for the Oval Office. “The story is totally without merit,” Ivana, who died in 2022, said. “Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of.
” Critics on the Côte d’Azur were divided on director Ali Abbasi’s feature. Variety called the mov.