THE APPRENTICE

You might think if ever there's a person on Earth that doesn't need a film made about them, it's Donald Trump. Well, Ali Abbasi had other ideas and delivers The Apprentice, a biopic about one of the most divisive figures in recent history. With the Presidential Election fast approaching, now couldn't be a more apt time for the world to witness this film.

A young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), eager to make his name as the hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protege: someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

His story is pretty well known yet that doesn't stop The Apprentice from being a captivating biopic from Ali Abbasi, Trump's eagerness to make a name for himself clear from the off and realised by Roy Cohn. There's moments scattered throughout the film that feel straight out of a horror film and one of the most striking is Cohn laying his eyes on Trump for the first time. Their eyes meet across the member's bar, Trump a little weirded out by the intense(!) stare from Cohn - clearly prepping his next protege. It's testament to both Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman for not going down such a conventional biopic route, deciding to treat this like a horrific cautionary tale instead, Kasper Tuxen's cinematography also helping to create such a sombre atmosphere throughout.

The lavish lifestyle is there for all to see but it's the persistence of Trump that is the most striking, wanting to conquer everything no matter who gets in his way. Even the depiction of his relationship with his first wife Ivana comes across as a man who wants a new play thing, only to toss it aside when he's done. Everything he does is horrible and nothing ever feels like it's glorified for entertainment purposes - his choice to only want to be in the presence of Cohn again once he knows AIDS can't be transmitted through touch something that just doesn't surprise any of us.

The film really moves along at such an energetic pace too thanks to Sherman's screenplay and some snappy editing from Olivier Bugge Coutté and Olivia Neergaard-Holm, as well as a number of banging songs within the soundtrack.

The Apprentice is led by a great performance from Sebastian Stan, who might just be the best we've ever seen him as Trump. We've seen so many parodies of Trump in recent years so there was always a danger Satan's performance could become a bit of a caricature but it avoids that thankfully. The mannerisms and facial expressions are on point, the more the film goes on the more he begins to feel like Trump, which ends up being rather creepy come the closing moments of the film. Jeremy Strong is right up there with Stan as Roy Cohn, think of a more cutthroat Kendall Roy and you've got it. The intensity brought to the role by Strong is matched by the bravado of Stan as Trump. Maria Bakalova must not be forgotten amongst all the masculine energy as Ivana Trump, an underrated actress if ever I've seen one.

In a time when it could be a real possibility that Donald Trump could get a second term as the President, The Apprentice is a sobering reminder of the man he truly is - shaped by a system designed to cater to those who couldn't give a toss about anyone else but themselves.

Verdict: ★★★★