---
title: "The Apprentice"
year: 2024
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-apprentice"
fi1m_id: "the-apprentice"
imdb_id: "tt8368368"
tmdb_id: 1182047
wikidata_id: "Q123582987"
fi1m_score: 61
critics_score: 62
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:57.922177+00:00"
region: "IN"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Apprentice (2024)

Directed by Ali Abbasi · 2h 02m · History, Drama, Comedy

## Identity

The Apprentice

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-apprentice
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** the-apprentice
- **IMDb ID:** tt8368368
- **TMDB ID:** 1182047
- **Wikidata ID:** Q123582987
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8368368/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1182047, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123582987

**Fi1m score: 61** · Critics 62 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* Jeremy Strong teaches a dim rich boy to lie, and we would have paid to watch him teach anyone

> Ali Abbasi’s account of young Donald Trump under the wing of Roy Cohn is well made and, for an hour, properly gripping, with a remarkable Jeremy Strong. Then the lessons are learnt and the film has nowhere to go but the record.

## Synopsis

New York in the 1970s. Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) is a young property developer working for his father Fred (Martin Donovan), whose company is being sued by the federal government for keeping black tenants out of its buildings. Donald wants a tower in Manhattan. At a members’ club he meets Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), a lawyer to mobsters and politicians, who takes him on, makes the lawsuit go away and teaches him three rules for winning. Over the following decade Donald marries Ivana (Maria Bakalova), builds his tower and puts the rules to use. Gabriel Sherman writes; Ali Abbasi directs.

## Review

Ali Abbasi, whose *Border* (2018) and *Holy Spider* (2022) kept close company with people most films would avoid, has made a film about how Donald Trump was assembled. Gabriel Sherman’s script covers roughly a decade, from a 1970s New York in which a young Donald chases rents on his father’s buildings to the brass and marble of the 1980s. The shape is a seduction. Roy Cohn finds a soft, needy young man and remakes him in his own image, and for as long as that is what the film is about, it is a good film. The tagline calls it an American horror story. For an hour it is closer to a lesson, and the lesson is the best of it.

Jeremy Strong plays Cohn with lidded eyes, a flat quiet voice and the stillness of a man who decided long ago never to be seen wanting anything. Across a table at a members’ club he lays down his three rules for winning: attack, attack, attack; admit nothing and deny everything; claim victory and never admit defeat. Strong delivers them like table manners. We laughed at him a good deal and then felt uneasy about it, because the film had put us where Donald sits, enjoying a monster’s company because he is the most interesting person present. Every scene Strong is in has a charge the rest of the film cannot find without him.

Sebastian Stan resists doing the voice for as long as he can. His early Donald is watchful and a little embarrassed, a boy who wants his father’s approval and knows he will not get it, and Stan plays the wanting rather than the mannerisms. Martin Donovan’s Fred Trump gives him nothing but a hard stare and a lecture, which makes the Cohn scenes feel like a son finding a second father who says yes. Then the pout arrives, and the hands, and by the second half Stan is doing the man from television. He does it well. It is still an impersonation, and once it lands the character stops being someone we are finding out about.

Kasper Tuxen shoots the 1970s in coarse grain and dirty yellow light, a city of steam and litter. When the decade turns he switches to the smeared, over-bright look of period videotape, colours bleeding at the edges and the frame jittering as if the tape were worn. It is the film’s clearest idea, that the man becomes a television picture. Aleksandra Marinkovich takes the rooms from Fred’s brown offices to mirrored lifts and gold fittings. The score, credited to Martin Dirkov, David Holmes and Brian Irvine, sits low and menacing under the first half and then largely gives way to the records of the period. The editors Olivia Neergaard-Holm and Olivier Bugge Coutté cut the early scenes with patience and the later ones as a sequence of stops.

That is the trouble. Once Donald has learnt his rules, Sherman’s script runs through the record, the tower and the marriage and the casinos and Cohn’s own troubles, and each item gets a scene and none gets a development. A film that had been curious about how a person is made becomes a film that knows what he became and is checking how he got there. There is a scene with Ivana in the second half that we will not describe. It is the most serious thing in the film, and it is played so flatly and left behind so fast that we sat through it cold and then were angry at feeling nothing, which we do not think was the intention. Maria Bakalova, in the scenes she is given, makes Ivana the one person who sees Donald clearly and stays anyway, and the film keeps losing sight of her.

*Holy Spider* was frightening because Abbasi stayed with his killer past the point of comfort and let us watch him be ordinary. Here he cuts away at the moments that count. The question anyone bringing this subject to a screen has to answer is what we will learn that we did not already know, and the honest answer is Roy Cohn. Most of what the film has to say about Donald Trump has been said on the news, and saying it again with better lighting does not make it new.

See it for Strong, and see it at home, where the second half’s shortcuts are easier to forgive and the first half’s pleasures survive intact. It carries a 15 certificate and runs 122 minutes, which is a good hour longer than the lesson takes.

*Fi1m score 61, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews on The Apprentice split widely, and the score sits in the middle of a broad range. Nearly everyone agrees on the acting. Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn is the performance most often singled out, with several critics saying he overshadows the film around him, and Sebastian Stan’s young Trump draws steady praise for its restraint, particularly in the early scenes. The period detail and the sleaze of the eras it covers are also widely admired.

The reservations cluster around what the film has to say. Many critics find the first half sharper than the second, and a good number complain that Abbasi charts Trump’s slide into cruelty without explaining it, or telling a viewer anything they did not already know. The dissent runs in both directions. The i Paper argues the film should not exist at all, The Ringer calls it an ugly misfire, and The Times calls it the Trump film nobody knew they needed.

## Straight answers

**Is The Apprentice worth watching?**

*The Apprentice* is worth watching for Jeremy Strong's Roy Cohn, and we scored it 61. The first hour, in which Cohn teaches a young Donald Trump his three rules for winning, is properly gripping; the second half runs through the record without developing any of it. See it at home, where the shortcuts are easier to forgive.

**How long is The Apprentice, and what is it rated?**

*The Apprentice* runs 2h 02m. It is a history and drama film.

**Where can I watch The Apprentice in India?**

*The Apprentice* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV in India. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is The Apprentice, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Apprentice* carries a UK 15 certificate and is not for children. There is little that is frightening in the horror sense, but it is an adult film about lying, cruelty and power, and a scene with Ivana in the second half is the most serious thing in it. Teenagers over fifteen with an interest in the subject will manage it.

**How does The Apprentice compare to Citizen Kane?**

*The Apprentice* and [*Citizen Kane*](https://film.one/film/citizen-kane) both follow a rich man's rise, but the older film asks why he became what he did and this one mostly checks how. *Citizen Kane* is the better and more absorbing film, though its structure can hold viewers at a distance. Watch *The Apprentice* for Strong; watch *Kane* for the whole man.

**What should I watch after The Apprentice?**

After *The Apprentice*, try [*Citizen Kane*](https://film.one/film/citizen-kane) (1941, Fi1m 93): The template for every rich man’s rise, and still the one that asks why. Then [*Angels in America*](https://film.one/tv/angels-in-america) (2003, Fi1m 83): Al Pacino’s Roy Cohn, dying and unrepentant; a more terrible and more human version; and [*The Social Network*](https://film.one/film/the-social-network) (2010, Fi1m 91): Fincher and Sorkin build a man out of grievance, faster and with sharper knives.

### Reviews we read (29)

- **The AV Club**, Jason Gorber (B+): The review highlights the compelling mentor/protégé relationship between Roy Cohn and Donald Trump as high drama, with stellar performances making it a masterclass in observing their dynamic. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-apprentice-review-roy-cohn-and-donald-trumps-dark-1851496112)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the powerhouse performances by Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong in this biopic of young Donald Trump under Roy Cohn's mentorship. It shows how Trump's narcissism and ruthlessness grow under the three rules imparted by Cohn, humanizing him while depicting his transformation into something monstrous. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-10-10/the-apprentice-review-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong-ali-abbasi-biopic)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (4/5): Abbasi delivers a funny yet unsettling and kitschily entertaining tragicomedy on Trump's rise via his mentorship with Cohn. It excels in its leads' chemistry and period aesthetic but may reaffirm rather than challenge viewers' views on the man. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-apprentice-review-2024)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the first half a knockout for its riveting look at Trump's evolution under Roy Cohn's ruthless lessons, with excellent performances. It falters later by not fully penetrating the mystery of Trump's core motivations or sociopathic turn. [Read](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/the-apprentice-review-donald-trump-movie-sebastian-stan-1236010185/)
- **Radio Times**, Max Copeman (3/5): The drama scathingly chronicles Trump's formative years as a villain origin story, with Stan capturing his mannerisms and Abbasi matching the eras' aesthetics. Strong's compelling performance as Cohn ultimately overshadows the rest. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-76sws1/the-apprentice/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (45/100, inferred): The review highlights strong supporting performances, especially Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, but criticizes the film's narrow focus on incidents without deeper insight into Trump's appeal or inner life. It finds the portrayal effective at showing moral decline but ultimately limited by efficient but uninspired direction. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-apprentice-reviewed-the-immoral-makings-of-donald-trump)
- **Little White Lies**, Mark Asch (3/2/1): The glossy biopic fails to say anything new about Trump and feels dutiful and unnecessary despite strong early performances. It charts his transformation into cruelty but lacks the edge or insight to justify its existence. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-apprentice)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the film starts strong but gets dumber as it goes on, praising Jeremy Strong's performance as Roy Cohn but noting the lack of emotional depth and connective tissue in the portrait of Trump. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-the-apprentice-gets-dumber-the-longer-it-goes-on.html)
- **The i Paper**, Christina Newland (30/100, inferred): The film is a glossy but grotesque and morally questionable biopic that gives undue airtime to Trump, feeling exploitative despite smart insights into his rise via Cohn's rules. It intrigues but ultimately should not exist. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/the-apprentice-review-grotesque-trump-film-3325164)
- **Empire**, Olly Richards: The film is a smart if not revelatory biopic that finds absorbing drama in Trump's relationship with mentor Roy Cohn, anchored by superb performances from Stan and Strong. It excels in the first half as a thriller-like ascent but falters later with cheap jabs. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-apprentice/)
- **Evening Standard**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh: Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong deliver fantastic performances as Trump and Cohn in this origin story that effectively shows Trump's rise. The film recreates the eras well and highlights how Trump became the figure he is today, though the story is linear. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-apprentice-cannes-film-festival-review-donald-trump-sebastian-stan-b1158304.html)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★☆☆): The film is soap opera with a hint of The Omen, restoring credit to Roy Cohn while ticking through Trump's ascent amid queasy decadence. It singles out the likenesses and snapshot of 1980s sleaze for praise. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/17aa6464-8c6e-4f9b-8108-c79952635b5f)
- **Screen Daily**: Stan and Strong impress in this otherwise lacklustre origin story that searches for the seeds of Trump's callousness without much success. Despite restraint and timeliness, the film never develops a decisive take and ends up dramatically flat. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-apprentice-cannes-review/5193798.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The film is a mildly amusing but profoundly forgettable and inoffensive villain origin story about young Donald Trump under Roy Cohn's influence. It offers assured filmmaking and vivid period detail but lacks impact or a decisive take on its subject. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/apprentice-frustratingly-safe-biopic-donald-trump)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: The film is a measured biopic that portrays young Trump as a weak and malleable figure shaped by Roy Cohn's ruthless lessons, rather than a full-on grotesque monster. It singles out Jeremy Strong's chilling performance as Cohn for praise. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/20/the-apprentice-review-ali-abbasi-donald-trump-roy-cohn-biopic-jeremy-strong-sebastian-stan)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney: The critic praises the performances of Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong in this chilling account of the unholy alliance between young Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, noting the film's detailed chronicle but questioning its audience appeal. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-apprentice-review-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong-donald-trump-1235904171/)
- **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin: The film is an enjoyably sleaze-slathered period piece about Trump's rise, but its main problem is offering a character study with very little character to study. It praises Jeremy Strong's superb performance as Roy Cohn. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-apprentice-review-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong/)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher: This is the Donald Trump movie you never knew you needed, full of compassionate feeling yet ruthless in analysis, with superb nuanced performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. It singles out the film's nuanced portrait of Trump for praise. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-apprentice-review-donald-trump-m6m6z2pbg)
- **The Playlist**, Rafa Sales Ross (B+): The critic finds the film a sleek satire that threads the line between tabloid fodder and veiled endorsement, with Stan and Strong delivering standout performances as Trump and Cohn. They single out the running comic vein and the way the film avoids pastiche while showing Trump’s transformation into an incompetent, disloyal figure. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-apprentice-review-sebastian-stan-as-donald-trump-it-works-cannes-20240520/)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (80/100, inferred): The film frames Donald Trump as the culmination of Roy Cohn's aggressive, fear-based conservative politics rather than an anomaly. It singles out Jeremy Strong's ruthless performance as Cohn for particular praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-apprentice-ties-donald-trump-to-rot-american-right/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Linda Marric (4/5): The critic praises the film as an essential, thought-provoking biographical drama that refuses to humanize or redeem Trump, instead showing how he was shaped by ruthless power and a toxic mentor. They single out Sebastian Stan’s subtle, career-defining performance for capturing the chilling erosion of Trump’s moral compass. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-apprentice-review/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (75/100, inferred): The critic calls the film a smart, sharp and surprising origin story of young Donald Trump focused on his relationship with Roy Cohn, presenting him as driven yet human rather than a simple hit job. Strong performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong are highlighted alongside the well-researched script that shows the making of the man without judging his later self. [Read](https://deadline.com/2024/05/the-apprentice-review-trump-movie-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong-1235924101/)
- **Collider**, Caleb Hammond (7/10): The critic sees the film as a Scorsese-like origin story for Trump, praising engaging performances especially Stan and Strong's relationship and Bakalova, but notes it occasionally breaks the spell with cheap laughs or winks to contemporary events. [Read](https://collider.com/apprentice-movie-review-sebastian-stan-donald-trump/)
- **/Film**, Ryan Scott (7/10): The critic sees the film as a good but difficult watch framed like an American horror story or Star Wars prequel origin tale, elevated by stellar performances from Stan, Strong, and Bakalova. They single out Stan’s subtle, humanizing portrayal of Trump’s gradual devolution as the standout element, while noting the timing makes it unsettling for contemporary audiences. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1670975/the-apprentice-sebastian-stan-donald-trump-movie-review/)
- **The Wrap**, Steve Pond (60/100, inferred): The review describes the film as a true-life horror story and Frankenstein-like tale that is amusing at times and disturbing at others, with Stan and Strong delivering notable performances. It notes that after years of Trump imitations the film can feel cartoonish and may not fully suit the director’s particular talents for something weirder or wilder. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-apprentice-review-donald-trump-sebastian-stan-jeremy-strong-movie/)
- **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film an ugly misfire that misses its target, lacking the sophistication of Citizen Kane or depth, relying on obvious cheap shots and flattening the characters despite strong casting; criticizes the director's approach. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2024/10/09/movies/the-apprentice-movie-review-donald-trump)
- **Eye for Film**, Andrew Robertson: The critic views the film as a dive into the underbelly of American empire and a Faustian origin story that elicits sympathy for the unsympathetic while measuring compassion for those who have abandoned it. They single out the performances of Stan and Strong, along with the absences and chilling vacancy in Stan’s portrayal, as the film’s strongest and most difficult elements. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-apprentice-2024-film-review-by-andrew-robertson)
- **Film Stories**, Maria Lattila: The critic calls it a damning yet engrossing character study of how Trump became his worst self through Roy Cohn's influence, with the film asking much of audiences but rewarding with strong performances. They single out Maria Bakalova’s Ivana for the most sobering insight into Trump’s private life and the film’s refusal to flatter its subject. [Read](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/the-apprentice-review-ali-abbasis-donald-trump-biopic-hits-all-the-right-notes/)
- **Paste**, Jim Vorel (6.0): The film searches for depth in Trump but finds none, portraying him as a simple fool molded by Cohn; praises Stan's early portrayal and Strong's Cohn, but criticizes lack of insight and familiar story. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-apprentice/the-apprentice-review-donald-trump-movie-roy-cohn-sebastian-stan-performance-ali-abbasi)

## Details

- **Director:** Ali Abbasi
- **Director:** Ali Abbasi
- **Screenplay:** Gabriel Sherman
- **Cinematography:** Kasper Andersen
- **Editor:** Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Olivier Bugge Coutté
- **Music:** Brian Irvine, Martin Dirkov, David Holmes
- **Production design:** Aleksandra Marinkovich
- **Costume design:** Laura Montgomery
- **Producer:** Ali Abbasi, Daniel Bekerman, Julianne Forde
- **Cast:** Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump; Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn; Martin Donovan as Fred Trump; Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump; Catherine McNally as Mary Anne Trump; Charlie Carrick as Freddy Trump; Ben Sullivan as Russell Eldridge; Mark Rendall as Roger Stone
- **Runtime:** 2h 02m
- **First release (France):** 20 May 2024
- **Genres:** History, Drama, Comedy
- **Budget:** $16 million
- **Box office:** $17 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvPRxy9kmSg

## Where to watch in India

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Apple TV: add-on, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Robert Award for Best English Language Film 2025: Robert Award for Best English Language Film (won)

## If you liked this

- *Citizen Kane* (1941), Fi1m 93: The template for every rich man’s rise, and still the one that asks why. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/citizen-kane.md)
- *Angels in America* (2003), Fi1m 83: Al Pacino’s Roy Cohn, dying and unrepentant; a more terrible and more human version. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/angels-in-america.md)
- *Il Divo* (2008): Sorrentino on Andreotti: a portrait of power that is stranger and wittier than this.
- *Holy Spider* (2022): Abbasi’s earlier film about a monster, and the one where he does not look away.
- *The Social Network* (2010), Fi1m 91: Fincher and Sorkin build a man out of grievance, faster and with sharper knives. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-social-network.md)

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-apprentice