SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
In a two-bedroom home in Gary, Indiana, a steel worker realizes his musically-talented sons could be the family’s ticket out. The mentally and physically abusive Joe Jackson (played by Colman Domingo) pushes the kids beyond decency so they’re ready when it’s time to hit the stage. He secures a few local gigs which puts the Jackson brothers in front of some crowds and, eventually, in front of Motown Creative Assistant Suzanne de Passe (Laura Harrier) who, in turn, puts the group in front of record mogul Berry Gordy (Larenz Tate). The group flourishes thanks, in no small part, to the youngest of the boys, Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi) and becomes a quick success. Fast forward to the late 1970’s and the Jackson family is now out of that midwestern two-bedroom home and living together in a huge estate out in Encino, California. Coming into his own, Michael (Jaafar Jackson) wants to break free of his brothers and do his own thing musically. Forever intimidated by his father and feeling pressure to carry his siblings’ careers on his shoulders, Michael struggles with making his solo dreams a reality. As he starts to make headway, he hires attorney John Branca (Miles Teller) to fire his father as his manager but, once the trigger is pulled, Joe will stop at nothing to make sure the family’s cash cow continues to produce milk for everyone.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
This is Michael Jackson, the greatest, most prolific, other-worldly superstar in entertainment history. He’s sold more albums than any artist, his videos — excuse me, short films — are legendary and his influence can still be felt in artists today (see: Bruno Mars, BTS, The Weeknd, etc.). In short, taking on a Jackson biopic is hardly unbreakable. It would be really easy to screw this up.
Luckily for us, MICHAEL was in great hands.
Director Antoine Fuqua not only made a great movie here but managed to seamlessly work in MJ easter eggs and honor the King of Pop while also not shying away from the health issues he had later in life. Jackson had drug dependencies, we see the origins of those. Jackson had trouble connecting with people, we see why. Jackson had a rough childhood (to say the least) and we absolutely see that. Fuqua’s attention to detail was invincible too, right down to Michael’s half-lip sync “flub” in the original Thriller video.
Talent clearly runs in the family because real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson plays his uncle and, despite this being his acting debut, he carries the emotional and physical weight of the movie. He moves like him, he talks like him and, more often than not, he looks like him. It really is a sight to behold. Add the surprising acting ability to the dangerous, imposing presence of Domingo and the screen becomes larger-than-life, much like Michael’s career was.
It’s not all butterflies, however. There’s a handful of ADR issues, Janet Jackson — the second most famous family member — just flat out wasn’t acknowledged (Janet reportedly wouldn’t give permission to use her likeness and the filmmakers honored that) and there are some inconsistencies when it comes to make up. 95 percent of the time, the audience buys into the belief that that’s Michael on screen which, honestly, is half the battle in a biopic like this. But that means that five percent of the time the mirage is broken and we’re reminded it’s somebody playing Michael. The worst example being the Thriller video.
Don’t get me wrong, seeing the infamous zombie dance reshot in 2025 was outstanding. And Jaafar actually looks pretty damn good. But there’s a part in the original when, on beat, Michael goes from zombie to regular MJ. So, in what’s probably an impossible task, when that moment happens we don’t see the image that’s forever burned into our memories. We see that that is definitely not Michael. It’s highly unfortunate as it’s such a cool moment.
More than the subject himself, this is a borderline masterclass in psychology. You feel his desperation for friendship, you feel his childhood ripped away from him, you feel his internal struggle of family vs. self and you feel his giving heart. MICHAEL makes you feel while still honoring a larger-than-life individual while also touching on his personal struggles. It takes a special actor to portray the King of Pop and it takes a special director to elevate such an easily fallible project.
MICHAEL is a movie you’ll want to watch several times in the theater and you’ll smile each and every time you do.
Oh, and buckle up, Billboard. Michael Jackson is about to dominate the music charts one more time.
JKG SCORE: 8.0
Untitled Film Project 