Michael (2026)

Michael (2026)

Max Seltzer

Film / Culture

April 4, 2026

Michael (2026) hit theaters, touting itself as a biopic of America’s King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson. Behind the film is the

director and writer duo Antoine Fuqua and John Logan. If you do not know their names, you certainly know their films. Fuqua is best known for his Equalizer trilogy, while Logan wrote Gladiator, Skyfall, and Spectre. Unfortunately, despite their experience, the duo was not able to make a captivating, or even entertaining, movie about one of the biggest pop culture icons of all time. Instead, what is showcased feels more like a jukebox musical of Michael Jackson’s greatest hits, with filler dialogue and pointless scenes simply stringing us from song to song.

Where the film does succeed is in its performances. The characters of Michael Jackson and his father, Joe Jackson, are portrayed by standout actors. Michael is first played by Juliano Valdi in his youth, and he perfectly captures the scared, antisocial child that Michael was. Our time with Valdi is limited, but it transitions seamlessly to Jackson’s own nephew, Jaafar Jackson, stepping into his uncle’s shoes. This is the first major film appearance for both leads, and I expect we will see more from them soon. Jaafar has an uncanny ability to replicate Michael’s voice, mannerisms, and dance unlike anyone I have seen; even more impressively, you can tell he builds on Valdi’s performance and turns it into his own. As Joe, Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo absolutely steals the stage. His demeanor and booming voice make him genuinely unsettling on screen, and he provides one of the film’s only real attempts at an antagonist.

Unfortunately, despite these performances, the movie falls flat in nearly every other metric. The best part of the biopic genre is seeing how these stars we idolized were still normal people, often pushed through deeply tragic times. In Bohemian Rhapsody, you see Freddie Mercury struggle with fame, relationships, and illness. In Rocketman, Elton John deals with addiction, suicide, and an unloving family. Even Elvis leans into the manipulation and abuse by his manager. These are real problems that audiences can connect to. In this film, however, Michael is portrayed more like a musical robot. While adult themes are hinted at, such as abuse from his father and predatory record executives, they are never explored. At best, they act as a bridge to the next song; at worst, they are played for laughs. In one scene, Michael’s mother tells Joe he will no longer beat their children, setting up what could be a powerful moment. Instead, the scene is immediately undercut by a giraffe comedically shaking its head through a window. Every time the film gets close to saying something meaningful, it pulls back and chooses to do nothing.

The closest the film gets to real conflict is when Michael suffers third-degree burns during a rehearsal. Even then, when his mother begins to apologize for the abuse he endured, he simply says, “I don’t want to discuss this right now,” and the film cuts away. If the filmmakers wanted to create a lighter film that simply showcases Jackson’s greatest hits, that would be fine. But it feels disingenuous to market this as a true story while avoiding any real struggle, and then ending the film in 1988, over twenty years before his death.

On a technical level, the film drags. The camera work is safe, the lighting is bland, and the settings feel repetitive, like the same few sets reused throughout. What the film lacks in storytelling is not made up for in its filmmaking, and it never captures the scale or grandeur that a Michael Jackson biopic should have.