Rating: 2.5/5
Antoine Fuqua’s Michael is exactly what you’d expect from an estate-approved biopic about the most famous entertainer who ever lived — dazzling on the surface, carefully guarded underneath. It’s a film that knows how to put on a show. It just doesn’t have much to say.
Released on April 24, 2026, the film traces Michael Jackson’s journey from a steel-worker’s son in Gary, Indiana, through the Jackson 5 years, all the way to the Bad tour. The performances are strong, the concert recreations are genuinely thrilling, and Jaafar Jackson — making his film debut as his real-life uncle — is a revelation. On almost every other level, the film struggles.
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Jaafar Jackson Is the Real Thing
Let’s start with what works, because it genuinely does. Jaafar Jackson nails the look, the voice, and the electrostatic moves — and the mix of delicacy and steel that made Michael who he was. There are moments watching him where you forget you’re watching a performance at all. The physicality is uncanny. The emotional fragility — especially in quieter scenes with Colman Domingo’s terrifying Joseph Jackson — feels completely real.
Colman Domingo is excellent as Joe Jackson, bringing a coiled menace to every scene. Nia Long brings warmth and quiet heartbreak to Katherine Jackson. The cast, across the board, is doing serious work.
The Problem: All Flash, No Depth
The trouble is the film they’re all working inside. Michael leaps from one event to the next without reflection or pause, hastily summarizing an accepted mythology of the singer’s rise to stardom. It’s a highlights reel dressed up as a biography — all greatest hits, no liner notes.
Critics at BBC News called it “a bland and barely competent daytime TV movie.” The Guardian noted that while Jaafar’s performance dazzles, the film is “frustratingly shallow and inert.” Empire’s John Nugent put it most bluntly, calling it a “cosplay tribute with no artistic point of view.” On Rotten Tomatoes, only 38% of critics gave it a positive review, with Metacritic assigning it a 39 out of 100.
And then there’s the elephant in the room. The film’s third act originally dealt with the 1993 lawsuit accusing Jackson of child sexual abuse. But after producers discovered a clause in the legal settlement barring depiction of those events, Fuqua was forced to retool the entire ending. The result is a film that covers two decades of one of history’s most complicated lives while carefully avoiding anything that might make viewers uncomfortable.
The Audience Disagrees — Loudly
To be fair, the public doesn’t seem to care what critics think. Michael is projected to open to between $94 million and $100 million domestically, with a global launch north of $200 million — numbers that shatter every music biopic record ever set. People are reportedly dancing in the theaters. CinemaScore audiences gave it an A–. The gap between critic scores and audience response is one of the widest in recent memory.
That divide tells you something important. If you love Michael Jackson’s music and want to relive the magic of his early career on a big screen with great sound, Michael genuinely delivers. It’s an experience.
The Verdict
Michael is a crowd-pleaser that prioritizes spectacle over truth. Jaafar Jackson deserves every bit of praise coming his way — his performance alone is worth the ticket. But the film surrounding him plays it so safe that it ends up feeling less like a biography and more like a very expensive tribute show.
Michael Jackson was one of the most fascinating, contradictory, and genuinely strange people to ever become famous. He deserved a film brave enough to sit with all of that. This one wasn’t quite ready to try.
Mohit Swami is the Head of Content at GYANTV, overseeing content strategy, editorial planning, and quality control across the platform. With experience in managing digital content workflows, he ensures that every article aligns with accuracy standards, audience relevance, and ethical publishing practices. His work focuses on building trustworthy, engaging, and reader-first content in health, lifestyle, and trending news categories.