In an era where musical biopics arrive with assembly-line regularity, it was only a matter of time before Michael Jackson – arguably the most mythologised pop figure of all – received the full prestige treatment. Backed by his estate and positioned as the definitive cinematic account, Michael has all the makings of something monumental. Instead, it lands somewhere far more conflicted: intermittently electrifying, often frustratingly hollow, and ultimately too cautious to do justice to its subject.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film charts Jackson’s early rise, from his childhood as the standout talent in the Jackson 5 through to the brink of his solo superstardom. Structurally, it’s less a complete portrait than a first chapter – one that builds toward independence but stops short of fully interrogating what that freedom meant or cost. There’s an undeniable sense that this is only half a story, especially given the film’s sprawling runtime and the clear setup for a continuation.
Where Michael undeniably soars is in its central performance. Jaafar Jackson is, quite simply, electric. It would be easy for this to feel like imitation or novelty casting, but he commits fully – capturing the voice, the movement, and that intangible stage presence that made his uncle a phenomenon. In the musical sequences especially, he commands attention in a way the film itself often struggles to. There’s a magnetic quality to his performance that keeps pulling you back in, even as the storytelling around him falters.
Those performance moments are where the film feels most alive. The music still hits, of course – it always will – and there’s a communal, almost concert-like energy that occasionally takes over. For stretches, Michael plays less like a traditional biopic and more like a celebratory tribute, inviting audiences to bask in the legacy rather than question it. When it leans into that, it works.
But that approach is also the film’s biggest limitation.
For all its scale and ambition, Michael often feels like a Wikipedia page filtered through a studio lens – informational, polished, and conspicuously sanitized. Key aspects of Jackson’s life are either glossed over or reduced to fleeting suggestions. The more complicated, uncomfortable chapters that shaped his public and private identity are largely absent, replaced instead with a steady stream of reverence. It’s not that the film needed to be exploitative, but it does feel incomplete without grappling with the contradictions that defined him.
Even within the scope it chooses, the storytelling lacks depth. Emotional beats come and go without much weight, and relationships – particularly within the family – are sketched in broad strokes. Colman Domingo fares best as Joe Jackson, bringing a layered intensity that hints at something more complex beneath the surface, but he’s working harder than the script around him. Nia Long is given comparatively little to do, while Miles Teller, as Michael’s entertainment lawyer John Branca, barely registers.
There’s also a noticeable sense of omission that hangs over the film. Entire figures and relationships that feel essential to Jackson’s story are sidelined or absent altogether, creating a strangely incomplete portrait. The reported trimming of roles – like Kat Graham as Diana Ross – only reinforces the impression that large portions of the narrative have been reshaped or removed. It’s not just what’s excluded, but how those gaps are felt.
And then there’s the broader question of timing. In the wake of projects like MJ: The Musical, which also navigates the challenge of celebrating the artistry while sidestepping controversy, Michael feels like it’s playing things even safer. The result is a film that’s easy to watch but difficult to fully engage with – polished to the point of emotional distance.
None of this makes Michael a failure outright. There’s enough here – particularly in Jaafar Jackson’s performance and the enduring power of the music – to make it an engaging, if uneven, experience. But it never quite transcends its own limitations. For a figure as complex and culturally seismic as Michael Jackson, playing it safe feels like the biggest misstep of all.
TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Michael is screening in Australian theatres from April 22nd, 2026, before opening in the United States on April 24th.
