{ "id": "epa9wbzcem", "slug": "unprecedented", "title": "Unprecedented", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "United States · 2021 and later: Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021", "label": "United States · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual", "label": "Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "label": "Music, arts, and biographical docuseries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Unprecedented (2022) is a three-part Discovery+ docuseries by British director Alex Holder following Donald Trump and his family through the 2020 campaign, January 6, and Trump's final presidential interview; its footage was subpoenaed by the House January 6 committee.", "snippet": "Unprecedented (2022) is a three-part Discovery+ docuseries by British director Alex Holder following Donald Trump and his family through the 2020 campaign, January 6, and Trump's final presidential interview; its footage was subpoenaed by the House January 6 committee.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_documentary_factual.music_arts_biography_docuseries", "markdown": "# Unprecedented\n\n**Unprecedented** is a three-part documentary series directed by the British filmmaker Alex Holder that follows Donald Trump and his family through the final weeks of his 2020 reelection campaign and their reactions to [Joe Biden](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-biden)'s victory, including footage shot at the [United States Capitol](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-capitol) on January 6, 2021. All three episodes premiered on [Discovery+](https://www.edgepedia.org/discovery) on July 10, 2022.[1](https://www.tvtango.com/series/unprecedented) • [2](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Three-part docuseries, about 41 minutes per episode, TV-MA rating[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/unprecedented/season-1) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unprecedented/) |\n| Premiere | July 10, 2022, on Discovery+; all three episodes released the same day[1](https://www.tvtango.com/series/unprecedented) |\n| Director | Alex Holder, a first-time documentary director for a project of this scale[5](https://time.com/6194550/alex-holder-trump-unprecedented-interview/) |\n| Interviewees | Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Jared Kushner[2](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented) |\n| Notable footage | The last interview Trump gave as president, and footage of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unprecedented/s01) • [2](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented) |\n| Congressional attention | Holder was subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating January 6 and turned over hours of raw footage[7](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unprecedented_documentary_trump_alex_holder_review.php) |\n| Reception | Mixed to negative reviews; Metacritic scores of 50 (Los Angeles Times), 40 (Variety), and 40 (The Hollywood Reporter)[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unprecedented/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Content and access\n\nHolder filmed the Trump family during the last six weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign and in the period after the election. The series contains unfiltered sit-down interviews with President Trump, his daughter [Ivanka Trump](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivanka-trump) and son-in-law [Jared Kushner](https://www.edgepedia.org/jared-kushner), and his sons [Donald Trump Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-trump-jr) and Eric Trump, along with commentary from journalists who covered the events, and an interview with former Vice President Mike Pence.[1](https://www.tvtango.com/series/unprecedented) • [2](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented) According to TIME, the three eldest Trump children, Kushner, and Pence all sat for interviews with Holder, who also landed Trump's last White House interview as president and filmed the events of January 6.[5](https://time.com/6194550/alex-holder-trump-unprecedented-interview/) • [8](https://time.com/6195860/trump-documentary-unprecedented-review/)\n\nThe three episodes are titled \"The Roar,\" in which the campaign is interrupted when Trump is hospitalized with COVID-19; \"Chaos and Madness,\" covering the final sprint before Election Day; and \"The Kindling,\" covering Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election result.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unprecedented/s01)\n\n## The January 6 committee subpoena\n\nWeeks before the premiere, Politico reported that Holder had been subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack. At the time, few people knew who Holder was; he later said he had 115 Twitter followers before the story broke. He confirmed the project in a statement describing \"unparalleled access and exclusive interviews,\" and said that, as a Briton, he had no \"agenda\" beyond wanting to \"better understand who the Trumps were and what motivated them to hold onto power so desperately.\" He complied with the subpoena, handing over hours of raw footage and sitting for a closed-door interview, saying he felt a \"responsibility\" to cooperate given the severity of January 6.[7](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unprecedented_documentary_trump_alex_holder_review.php)\n\nThe subpoena drew intense attention to the series before its release. Major news organizations obtained clips from the footage; the New York Times reported that Ivanka Trump legitimized her father's election lies to Holder despite having told the committee she had accepted by the time of her interview that there was no merit to the claims. Holder told TIME his interviews would help establish a chronology of who was thinking what in the run-up to January 6.[7](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unprecedented_documentary_trump_alex_holder_review.php) The committee's interest was significant enough that it delayed a hearing around the docuseries' attention.[2](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented)\n\n## Critical reception\n\nReviewers who expected revelations from the unprecedented access were largely disappointed. Owen Gleiberman of Variety called the series \"sort of like a mediocre TV-movie version of the Jan. 6 hearings\"; Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter described \"three hours of poorly focused and repetitive blandness\" with \"zero shocking revelations\"; and the Los Angeles Times gave it a 50, noting that some of the most intriguing material did not make the final film.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unprecedented/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni63687104/) Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramírez called it a \"fascinating portrait\" of the Trump family but noted it offered no new revelations about the family's actions around January 6, and Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Discovery+'s marketing of the series as a new source of revelatory information \"wasn't entirely honest.\"[7](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unprecedented_documentary_trump_alex_holder_review.php)\n\nTIME's review was more measured about what the series does offer: a travelogue of the Trump children campaigning for their father, including filling in during the week Trump was ill with COVID-19, and a portrait of the family dynamic, with Ivanka and Donald Jr. presented at different moments as heir apparent to the family's business and political standing.[8](https://time.com/6195860/trump-documentary-unprecedented-review/)\n\n## Availability\n\nThe series streams on [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) and Discovery+ in the United States, and on Discovery+ and related channels in other markets.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/unprecedented/season-1) It holds an IMDb rating of 6.3 from 51 votes and a 34% [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) user rating.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/unprecedented/season-1)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Unprecedented, TV Tango](https://www.tvtango.com/series/unprecedented)\n2. [UNPRECEDENTED, Nicole Pritchett Productions](https://www.nicolepritchettproductions.com/unprecedented)\n3. [Unprecedented Season 1, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/unprecedented/season-1)\n4. [Unprecedented Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unprecedented/)\n5. [How a First-Time British Director Scored Unprecedented Access to the End of Trump's Presidency, TIME](https://time.com/6194550/alex-holder-trump-unprecedented-interview/)\n6. [Unprecedented: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unprecedented/s01)\n7. [After weeks of hype, Unprecedented proves, well, precedented, Columbia Journalism Review](https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/unprecedented_documentary_trump_alex_holder_review.php)\n8. [The New Trump Documentary Is Mostly Good for Psychoanalyzing Trump's Kids, TIME](https://time.com/6195860/trump-documentary-unprecedented-review/)\n9. ['Unprecedented' Review, Variety via IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/news/ni63687104/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Music, arts, and biographical docuseries*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Unprecedented\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Unprecedented](https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented](https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Unprecedented\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/unprecedented. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Unprecedented is a three-part Discovery+ docuseries by British director Alex Holder following Donald Trump and his family through the 2020 campaign, January 6, and Trump's final presidential interview; its footage was subpoenaed by the House January 6 committee." }