Michael
SHOW TYPE
MOVIE
SHOW LENGTH
2 hr, 7 min
PROTECTION
PG-13
RELEASED
2026
The early life of musician Michael Jackson, from the discovery of his talent as the lead of the Jackson Five to the artist whose creative ambition fueled a pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world.
The story of "King of Pop" Michael Jackson.
From his childhood as the star of the Jackson 5, through times of abuse by his father Joe Jackson, to breaking away and making the hit album Thriller and claiming his independence as a solo artist.
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Comments and reviews
Wes Calder
+14 cloutSep 10, 2026
I went in expecting another music biopic paint-by-numbers and came out mostly entertained, which is more than I can say for half the ones that chase awards instead of rhythm. Michael, the 2026 one about the kid who became the King of Pop, sticks to the early years: little Michael found in the Jackson Five chaos, Joe Jackson's iron fist, the Motown grind, then the slow break into solo territory that peaks around Thriller. It doesn't try to swallow the whole messy later life, and that choice alone kept me from checking my watch every ten minutes. It opens in Gary, Indiana, with the house too small and the rehearsals too long, and right away you feel the craft in how they shoot the kids performing. The camera doesn't just sit there like it's a stage play; it darts between feet and faces the way a real club crowd would. Jaafar Jackson plays young Michael, and for a nephew-of-the-legend casting it could have been pure stunt, but the kid can move. There's a sequence early on where the Five are on the Ed Sullivan stage—wait, no, it was the Diana Ross special first, I always mix those—and the editing cuts on the snare hits so clean you almost stand up. That's the kind of stuff I stay for. Speeches about destiny and the price of fame get less of my attention; give me the sweaty rehearsal room and the argument over who sings lead. Joe Jackson is played as the obvious pressure cooker without turning him into a Saturday-morning cartoon villain. You see the old Motown machinery that needed a disciplinarian and the family that paid for it. The film doesn't linger on every slap for trauma points. It just lets the kids flinch and then throw themselves harder into the next number. I kept thinking of Walk the Line, how that one made the parents and the road feel like real weather instead of exposition. Michael does something similar in the middle stretch when the group is touring and Michael starts noticing the way the girls scream louder for him than for the brothers. There's a hotel-room scene where he's practicing spins alone after midnight, TV flickering with some old Gene Kelly clip—no, Fred Astaire, I always get those two mixed—and the isolation lands without anyone having to monologue about it. Where it gets exciting is the Off the Wall into Thriller pipeline. Quincy Jones shows up and the studio sessions have that nerdy gear-head energy I love: tape reels, arguments over bass lines, Michael insisting on the animal sounds and the spoken intro. They spend a good ten or twelve minutes inside the "Billie Jean" tracking date and I didn't mind a second of it. The dancer who doubles for the later stage moves is locked in; the famous lean is staged with practical rigs that look dangerous instead of CGI slick. I caught myself grinning like an idiot during the Motown 25 recreation because they got the glove and the socks right and didn't cut away to reaction shots of executives realizing history was happening. Just let the performance cook. That's the sequence that justified the ticket. Everything before feels like setup; everything after feels like victory lap with a few scars. It loses some steam when it tries to explain the creative ambition in words instead of movement. There's a late conversation with a manager about owning the masters and becoming bigger than the machine, and it plays like every other biopic boardroom scene you've already forgotten. The film is stronger when it trusts the body: the way Michael holds his shoulders differently once he's free of the group, the way the choreography starts inventing itself mid-rehearsal. I kept flashing on Rocketman for the fantasy numbers and then correcting myself—this one stays grounded, no giant cartoon lions or whatever. More like Straight Outta Compton in the way it treats the work as the real drama. Is it definitive? No. It stops right when Thriller owns the planet and leaves the rest of the story for somebody else's headache, which is smart. The performances are committed without being impressions that make you wince. Sound design is loud in the right places; the mix puts the breath and the floorboards under the hits so you feel the stage. A couple of montages lean on period news footage a little too hard, and the third-act makeup aging is only halfway convincing, but those are nitpicks from a guy who rewatches This Is It more than is healthy. If you care about how a shy kid from a cramped house turned into the most watched performer on Earth, this covers the years that matter without sanding every edge smooth. It's not perfect craft, but when the music takes over it remembers why we still care about the guy. I walked out humming the bass line from "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and arguing with myself about whether they nailed the moonwalk angle. That's a win in my book.
Guest 2b41
anonymous
Sep 10, 2026
Michael Jackson grows up in a strict household with his brothers, sisters and parents. His father, Joseph Jackson, played convincingly by Colman Domingo, pushes his sons to the limit because he believes they are destined for greatness. Discipline is not optional. Saying no is not an option either. As Michael gets older, he starts to outgrow his father's control and wants to go solo. Breaking free is not easy and the road toward independence is long and rough, especially when it means going directly against the man who built him. I grew up with Michael Jackson's music, like millions around the world. He was not just famous, he was something else entirely. As John Branca once said, there has never been a bigger star and there likely never will be. That makes this role almost impossible to carry. Jaafar Jackson had enormous shoes to fill playing his uncle and you feel that weight throughout the film. At times you are watching the story, but you are also aware of who this is and what it represents. You already know who will benefit most from this project. The story itself covers ground that many people already know. Because of that, it feels more like a film made for a younger audience who did not experience Michael's life in real time, like my daughter. Watching it with her added something, but it also made clear where the film falls short. The biggest issue is the lack of emotional depth. The characters feel flat, especially Michael himself. There are hardly any moments where you truly get inside his head. You never really see what he is thinking or feeling. Important relationships that could have added layers to his character are missing and it shows. This is called Michael, but it often feels more like a broader Jackson family story, focused on him breaking free from his father rather than understanding who he was as a person. That becomes a problem in the more dramatic moments. When the film tries to hit emotional highs, they do not land the way they should. His relationship with his mother stays on the surface, never becoming something you feel. So when the story reaches points that should carry weight, the impact just is not there. The makeup is also inconsistent. Early on, it is very clear you are watching Jaafar and not Michael, which breaks the illusion. As the film progresses, that improves and there are moments where the transformation becomes convincing. For a first acting role, Jaafar deserves credit. Taking on a figure like Michael Jackson, who also happens to be his uncle, is not just a professional challenge but an emotional one. You can sense the effort, and at times it pays off. Still, knowing who Michael Jackson was, a perfectionist who demanded excellence in everything, it is hard not to feel that this film settles for being just good. And for a story like this, good does not quite cut it. For those who lived through his rise, this will likely feel like a missed opportunity. For others, it might work better. Either way, it never fully captures the man it is named after.