Michael (2026) has been buzzing in the pop culture circuit for months now. I watched an early release on April 23, and as the credits began to roll and the music thrummed in the headrest of my leather theater seat, one thought swam to the surface of my mind.
That’s it?
Allow me to explain myself. Although I’m not a die hard Michael Jackson fan or an expert on his life, I quickly sensed that this film was incredibly sanitized. Originally, the biopic was going to center on Jackson’s allegations and the impact they had on him, but Jackson’s estate found a clause in the settlement with Jordan Chandler, one of Jackson’s accusers, barring the film from mentioning him. With Chandler’s clause, the film’s third act had to be overhauled, and the controversies feel noticeably absent.
But that wasn’t my problem with the film. At least, not my main one. I did not expect a film funded and overseen by Jackson’s family to portray him in a bad light; what I was skeptical of was how the film portrayed Michael Jackson navigating the world.
OVERLY SANITIZED
Michael begins with the Jackson 5 practicing in their living room in front of their father, Joe Jackson (Colman Domingo). The film depicts Jackson (portrayed as a child by Juliano Krue Valdi) as a boy who yearns for normalcy and was never allowed to indulge in his youth like other kids, before we see a rather jarring scene of Joe beating Michael, which was horrible to watch. I cried at the child Michael’s screams, despite knowing it was all rehearsed for a camera.
But this scene set up how the audience would see the adult Jackson (Jafaar Jackson) for the rest of the film: as a child. When his brothers were going out on dates and playing sports, Jackson was playing games intended for young children. I don’t mean to discredit Jackson’s desire to escape, but how come the film never showed us his romantic life, or his financial aspirations? Why didn’t they depict him as a fully-realized adult capable of autonomy, anger, and sexual activity?
Instead, the film offers up Michael Jackson as a genius. Aside from his abusive father, no one refused him, not the record executives, not his team. Everyone did as he wished, and if they initially resisted, they eventually gave in.
I’m reluctant to believe an industry that’s still volatile to Black creatives embraced Jackson so easily. There was no mention of Michael being discriminated against until he wanted to appear on MTV, and the scene where a CBS executive (Mike Myers) threatens to pull all CBS artists from MTV in order to advocate for Jackson portrays a narrative where executives and corporations are friendly and ethical. Throwing around the line “I’m a proud Black artist” holds little weight when the rest of the film glosses over the industry’s treatment of Black creatives.
Even when Jackson is put in the hospital after a malfunction on the set of a Pepsi commercial, the film places the blame on his father, despite Joe not being responsible for the mechanics of the set or the safety protocols. It’s quickly brushed over with a payout that Jackson promptly donates to burn victims. The film subtly defends Pepsi by removing the fault of the corporation to highlight Joe Jackson’s abuse instead. Where is the accountability?
Worth a Watch?
Despite Antoine Fuqua’s expert directing that immersed the audience with gorgeous visuals, the film had little depth. Almost everything shown on screen is something I could’ve read about in a Variety article or Wikipedia page. The film didn’t quite have anything interesting to say.
I wonder, does this make Michael an outlier? Most biopics, even critically acclaimed ones, have inaccuracies. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) was creatively controlled by Queen and riddled with inaccuracies, portraying the other three members of Queen as normal, family men when all of them were just as wild as Freddie Mercury. Do biopics have to be accurate? Must they share something new that fans and new audiences are unaware of?
I’m not sure. But regardless of my disapproval for this corporate-friendly film, it did feel thrilling and alive. Jaafar Jackson’s portrayal of Jackson should win awards, and at times, it felt as if I was there, sitting in front of legend Michael Jackson.