The Apprentice

The Donald Trump origin story works as an effective tragedy

Despite Donald Trump being a ubiquitous presence in the media and culture since his first presidential run in 2016, he’s not been featured in dramatic media adaptations. We have a slew of imitators and comedians taking shots, most notably on Saturday Night Live (1975-), but in TV dramas or film, only Brendan Gleeson’s turn in The Comey Rule (2020) comes to mind. A new addition has dared come to the fore with The Apprentice(2024).

The Apprentice is the story of how NYC real estate heir Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) met famed vicious lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) in 1970s Manhattan, and how Cohn became a mentor for the young Trump.

The Apprentice is the first English-language film from Iranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi, who’s dived into the dark psychologies of reviled characters in Border (2018) and Holy Spider (2022). With The Apprentice Abbasi takes on a monumental task that Hollywood has not dared touch, fearing the famously litigious Trump (Trump is already in a dispute with the film’s producers insinuating defamation). Abbasi’s take on Trump, however, is less politically driven than focused on character. The Apprentice is interested in exploring how Trump shaped his infamous persona.

The Apprentice revolves around the teacher-student relationship between Cohn and Trump. Trump is first shown as insecure and under the thumb of his father Fred Trump (Martin Donovan), and Abbasi shows Cohn taking a pity and intrigue in the young real-estate financier. Abbasi frames his story as a tragic fall and corruption of Trump rather than a greed-filled business drama. As such, the narrative fall more in line with Breaking Bad (2008-2013) and “Macbeth” than The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In fact, there is a clear allusion Shakespeare’s famous line “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red,” in a scene where a guilt-ridden Trump furiously washes his hands with a pitying desperation.

The Apprentice could have lived off dropping famous names and personalities that Trump interacted with in NYC, and while there are some gratuitous cameos (Andy Warhol! Roger Stone!), each scene and interaction is reserved towards moving the narrative along. One key relationship that does fail this test, however, is that of Trump and his first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova). Their relationship never feels necessary to the storyline and is only used as a temperature check to signal Trump’s changing personality. Similarly, Cohn disappears in the final third, with The Apprentice wandering around biographical milestones instead of its character beats.

The Apprentice does feature some fearless actors, who’ve taken on taboo roles that could prove dangerous given the fervor of Trump’s supporters. None of the cast falls into caricature territory, and rather don (pun intended) these figures with a humanity that I would have thought impossible. Stan as Trump is spectacular, finding a balance between imitation of Trump’s demeanor and voice, without it becoming a distraction. As Trump transforms throughout the film, Stan carries along minute changes from scene to scene, so that you are taken aback when you see the politician we know today in the final sequences. Strong is imperious as Cohn, taking his character in an opposite direction than Stan, as we see Cohn start big and become smaller, losing control of his pupil, and seeing in horror how his mantras have been coopted with impunity. Bakalova as Ivana is given little screentime, but the Bulgarian actress transmits a sense of autonomy and complexity, which would have been intriguing to continue exploring.

In the end, The Apprentice is an effective tragedy, flitting a fine line into the polarizing main character. The film is a convincing character study of how Trump arrived at who he is today. Abbasi struggles with his final act, as it accelerates Trump’s transformation and loses its balance by sidelines core characters. Nevertheless, aided by some spectacularly calibrated performances, The Apprentice pulls off an empathetic, unforgiving, and comprehensive look at a character that has never left anyone indifferent.   

8.0/10