Michael (2026)
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Premise: A biopic of musician Michael Jackson, dramatizing his humble beginnings with the Jackson 5 through his rise to superstardom.
What Works: Musical biopics almost always have to be produced in cooperation with the artist’s estate which means that these films are conceived to protect and enhance the artist’s brand and juice the value of their catalog. Michael is exactly that. The film is a summary of Jackson’s career but it only focuses on Jackson’ peak period from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s. This is a musical revue and a memorialization of the Michael Jackson everyone loved before his public image was tainted by increasingly bizarre behavior and accusations of child abuse. As portrayed here, Michael Jackson was childish and eccentric but also kind and a brilliant musician and entertainer. Much like Jackson himself, this film is a crowd pleaser and it plays to Jackson’s fans by celebrating the hits and crafting a sanitized monument to his memory. Michael moves along briskly through the highlights of Jackson’s career and the performance pieces are shot and edited with energy and musicality. Jaafar Jackson (Michael’s real-life nephew) is convincing in the title role, capturing the voice and movement that made Jackson a unique entertainer. Juliano Valdi is also impressive as the young Michael. The filmmakers have built their story around Michael Jackson’s relationship to his domineering father Joe (Colman Domingo) and it’s enough to give the film a narrative shape.
What Doesn’t: Michael suffers from a common problem of celebrity biopics. The plot is a collection of anecdotes from Jackson’s life but each scene is isolated. There’s little sense of Jackson growing as a person or as an artist. Dramatizations exist to interrogate human behavior, to explore character’s motives and choices. Michael does not do that. It’s a bland and shallow treatment of Jackson’s life. Even its focus on the music provides little insight into Jackson’s creative motives. When it isn’t in musical mode, the movie is quite boring. Abdicating the reason for making a drama creates additional problems. The first is practical. There is no good reason to watch this movie. Viewers who want to see Michael Jackson perform can easily access his music videos and concert footage. Since Michael doesn’t put Jackson’s body of work into a meaningful dramatic context we’re left watching a facsimile when we could just watch the real thing. The second problem is ethical. Michael has been designed to clear away any problematic, unpleasant, or complicated aspects of Jackson’s life. The result is a film that is cowardly, dishonest, and uninteresting.
Bottom Line: Michael is an audience pleaser both for better and for worse. The filmmakers play the hits and appeal to viewers who just want to enjoy Michael Jackson’s music without the inconvenient details of his life. But the decision to make the film this way is ethically dubious and creatively bankrupt.
Episode: #1097 (May 3, 2026)