‘The Apprentice’ premieres to applause and controversy at Cannes Film Festival

“The Apprentice,” a new film about former President Donald Trump’s real estate dealings in New York in ’80s, debuted to a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and criticism from his campaign.

“The Apprentice,” a new film about former President Donald Trump’s real estate dealings in New York in the ’80s, debuted to a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and criticism from his campaign. The film about the presumptive Republican nominee comes five months before the presidential election. Starring Sebastian Stan as a young Trump, the film is an “exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit,” according to an official synopsis. “Succession” star Jeremy Strong co-stars as Roy Cohn, the lawyer and fixer who Trump considered a mentor early in his career. “It’s a mentor-protege story that charts the origins of an American dynasty. Filled with larger than life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers,” the synopsis reads. “The Apprentice,” which, despite the title, is not a reference to the reality competition series Trump starred in, includes a disclaimer that some parts of the story are slightly fictionalized. It is written by biographer and political journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi.