<p class="bodytext">Every rise has its maker. In 'The Apprentice', that role belongs to Roy Cohn, the lawyer who teaches a young Donald Trump that winning is better than being right. Ali Abbasi’s film steps into 1970s New York, a city of glass towers, cigarette smoke and unchecked ambition. It’s less a biopic and more a mirror, showing how power learns to dress itself early.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first half is gripping, showing Trump’s transformation under Cohn’s mentorship with dark humour and steady tension. Their relationship feels like a deal with the devil, each feeding the other’s hunger for control. But once the story jumps forward in time, it starts to lose focus. What begins as a sharp character study turns into something broader and less revealing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sebastian Stan gives a convincing performance as Trump, playing him with nervous charm and quiet calculation. Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn is calm, magnetic and quietly terrifying. Their scenes together have real charge, even when the writing slips. Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan appear briefly, adding texture without leaving much impact. The film belongs entirely to Stan and Strong, who command every scene they share.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The technical craft is impressive. The cinematography captures the texture of the era, the editing keeps things tight and the music never overplays emotion. </p>.<p class="bodytext">'The Apprentice' is ambitious, stylish and often compelling, but it never digs deep enough. Abbasi sketches the making of a monster without fully exploring the system that helped him rise.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Every rise has its maker. In 'The Apprentice', that role belongs to Roy Cohn, the lawyer who teaches a young Donald Trump that winning is better than being right. Ali Abbasi’s film steps into 1970s New York, a city of glass towers, cigarette smoke and unchecked ambition. It’s less a biopic and more a mirror, showing how power learns to dress itself early.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The first half is gripping, showing Trump’s transformation under Cohn’s mentorship with dark humour and steady tension. Their relationship feels like a deal with the devil, each feeding the other’s hunger for control. But once the story jumps forward in time, it starts to lose focus. What begins as a sharp character study turns into something broader and less revealing.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sebastian Stan gives a convincing performance as Trump, playing him with nervous charm and quiet calculation. Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn is calm, magnetic and quietly terrifying. Their scenes together have real charge, even when the writing slips. Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan appear briefly, adding texture without leaving much impact. The film belongs entirely to Stan and Strong, who command every scene they share.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The technical craft is impressive. The cinematography captures the texture of the era, the editing keeps things tight and the music never overplays emotion. </p>.<p class="bodytext">'The Apprentice' is ambitious, stylish and often compelling, but it never digs deep enough. Abbasi sketches the making of a monster without fully exploring the system that helped him rise.</p>