“The Apprentice,” Ali Abbasi’s portrait of 1980s Donald Trump, arrived at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Described as a dive into the underbelly of the American empire, the film follows Sebastian Stan as a young Trump, who rises to power through a Faustian deal with right-wing lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.
“The Apprentice,” which is labeled as inspired by true events, portrays Trump’s dealings with Cohn as a Faustian bargain that guided his rise as a businessman and, later, as a politician. Stan’s Trump is initially a more naive real-estate striver, soon transformed by Cohn’s education.
depicts a female journalist investigating a serial killer in Iran, said he didn’t set out to make “a History Channel episode.” “This is not a biopic of Donald Trump,” said Abbasi. “We’re not interested in every detail of his life going from A to Z. We’re interested in telling a very specific story through his relationship with Roy and Roy’s relationship with him.”
Regardless of its political impact, “The Apprentice” is likely to be much discussed as a potential awards contender. The film, shot in a gritty ‘80s aesthetic, returns Strong to a New York landscape of money and power a year following the conclusion of“The Apprentice” is playing in competition in Cannes, making it eligible for the festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or.