On the heels of successful musical biopics such as 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody and 2022’s Elvis, comes the new film from director Antoine Fuqua that tells the story of the King of Pop – Michael Jackson – accurately titled Michael. While other films of this genre have chosen to explore multiple angles of their particular subject’s life (warts and all), Michael refrains from doing so in what appears to be an effort to portray the artist in a more favorable light.
The film chronicles the story of Jackson’s like from his early work with his brothers as the Jackson Five through his extraordinary success as a solo artist with the mammoth album Thriller and his subsequent follow-up – Bad. The film also touches, though far too briefly, on Jackson’s familial relationships and the obstacles he must overcome to achieve his vision of the music he longs to create. It then, conveniently ends before any of the controversial particulars of his personal life and death are addressed.
The glossing over of any negativity in Jackson’s personal life makes the film feel like an incomplete portrayal that never fully examines the artist. But, given that the film was produced by Jackson’s estate and was likely designed to be more of a celebration than a comprehensive exploration of the man’s life, the result was probably inevitable.
Director Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer [2014] and The Equalizer 2 [2018]) manages to give the story, penned by Spectre (2015) scribe John Logan, a grittier feel than it may have gotten in another filmmaker’s hands. But the ever-present shadow of Jackson’s estate keeps the screenplay from doing anything but glossing over Jackson’s psyche or simply pinning everything on his domineering father Joe (Colman Domingo).
Jaafar Jackson in a still from “Michael.” © LionsGate/Courtesy Everett Collection.
Making his acting debut as Jackson, Jaafar Jackson – the son of Michael’s brother Jermaine – does a remarkable job of making his uncle the sympathetic hero of this story, instead of something he might have become in a different version of this film. Colman Domingo’s portrayal of Joe Jackson is the other emotional and narrative anchor of the film and it isn’t until Michael develops a similar relationship with producer Quincy Jones (Kendrick Sampson) that the absence of a decent father figure seems to be consequential to Jackson’s life at all.
Overall, the film boasts fine cinematography from Dion Beebe and the editing provided by the four-person team of Conrad Buff, Tom Cross, John Ottman, and Harry Yoon keeps the story moving along briskly from one musical set piece to the next.
While it may lack the bite and substance of other musical biographies, Michael does deliver a reasonably entertaining portrayal of a rags-to-riches story of a young man who overcomes personal obstacles to achieve greatness – albeit with a slightly rewritten historical outcome.
WHERE TO WATCH: (powered by JustWatch)
| Producer: | John Branca, Graham King, John McClain |
| Release Date: | April 24, 2026 |
| Running Time: | 127 minutes |
| Starring: | Jaafar Jackson, Miles Teller, Colman Domingo, Nia Long, Jayden Harville, Jaylen Lyndon Hunter, Judah Edwards, Rhyan Hill, Nathaniel Logan McIntyre, Joseph David Jones, Larenz Tate, Kat Graham, Jessica Sula, Liv Symone, Kevin Shinick, Kendrick Sampson, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Laura Harrier, Jamal Henderson, Tre' Horton, Juliano Valdi |
| Writer: | John Logan |
| MPAA Rating: | PG-13 (for some thematic material, language, and smoking) |
| Director: | Antoine Fuqua |
| Distributor: | Lionsgate |
| External Info: | Official Site / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / X (TWITTER) / #MICHAELMOVIE |
