The first section The biopic about Donald Trump that made a stunning and controversial impression at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival has finally arrived.
Ali Abbasi's movie trainee The film stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, the hard-nosed prosecutor who served as a mentor to the real estate mogul and future president. The film traces their relationship through the 1970s and 1980s, exploring the ways in which Cohn—a veteran of the McCarthy-era communist witch hunt—helped shape Trump into the stilted, critical, and outspoken master we now know so well.
In his Cannes review of the film, Rolling StoneDavid Fair's description trainee As a kind of Frankenstein “A remake of ‘Where a Mad Scientist Plays Pygmalion and Watching His Creation Transform into a Monster.’” The new scene released today captures an early moment of that transformation.
In the clip, Trump is interviewed by phone in a limousine, ignoring a recent legal case and previewing his upcoming major real estate purchase. As he speaks, an increasingly frustrated Cohn tries to direct his performance. Unhappy with the results, he picks up the phone and hangs it up, and when Trump tries to apologize, Cohn delivers a scathing rebuke: “I mean, listen, it’s your life. You’ve got a long way to go, but you’re learning.”
trainee The film is set to open in select theaters on October 11. It premiered at Cannes in May and, while it received largely positive reviews, has been the subject of controversy over a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife, Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova). Trump’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to the film’s producers, calling it “purely malicious libel” that “should be thrown in the trash can.”
The project's producers stood by trainee“It gives a fair and balanced portrayal of the former president,” Abbasi said. “We want everyone to see it and decide.” Abbasi even offered to show the film to Trump, saying, “I don’t necessarily think this is a movie he’s not going to like. I don’t necessarily think he’s going to like it. I think he’s going to be surprised, you know?”
