There’s a very specific kind of music biopic that isn’t necessarily interested in digging into every complicated corner of its subject’s life so much as recreating the feeling of why the world fell in love with them in the first place. Michael falls squarely into that category, and honestly, I think it works better when you accept that going in. This isn’t a particularly daring or deeply investigative portrait of Michael Jackson, but it is an undeniably nostalgic and emotionally accessible one that clearly wants audiences to reconnect with the music, the spectacle, and the tragedy of a man who spent most of his life under an impossible microscope.
The film paints Michael as a deeply wounded but endlessly driven artist, someone shaped as much by abuse and exploitation as by talent. It spends a great deal of time emphasizing the pressure he endured from childhood onward, particularly through his relationship with his father, and you can feel the movie constantly circling the idea that Michael never really got the chance to exist as a normal person. Whether the film digs deeply enough into that idea is another conversation entirely, but emotionally, it lands often enough to carry you through the slower stretches.
What surprised me most is how effective the musical sequences are. The recreations of performances and recording sessions are easily the film’s strongest element, capturing just enough of Michael Jackson’s energy and stage presence to remind you why he became such a global phenomenon in the first place. Even when the movie starts feeling formulaic, the music pulls it back to life almost immediately.
That said, the film definitely plays things safe. You can feel the production smoothing over rougher edges and avoiding material that would have complicated its crowd-pleasing approach. The narrative itself is fairly surface-level, moving through major moments all-to-quickly without always stopping long enough to fully explore them. There’s also a sense that the movie went through some reshoots, especially as it approaches the finish line, where certain emotional beats feel rushed or unfinished.
Still, I can’t say I had a bad time with it. Michael isn’t trying to reinvent the music biopic or offer some brutally raw examination of fame and celebrity. It’s aiming for something more straightforward: an emotional, highly nostalgic celebration of an artist who changed pop culture forever while also acknowledging the loneliness and damage that followed him throughout his life.
TLDR:The current Rotten Tomatoes score sums up, as of 5/13/26 it’s sitting at 37% from Critics & 97% from the audience. Critically you can pick this film apart, but you can’t deny it’s a good time.
Is it a masterpiece? Not even close, but it’s also far from the train-wreck some people may expect. For fans of Michael Jackson’s music especially, there’s enough heart, spectacle, and emotional sincerity here to make it worthwhile. Even with its limitations, the film succeeds at reminding you just how massive his impact truly was and why the world is still fascinated by him decades later.
Have you seen it yet? Are you a fan of this movie? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Cheers,
Matt.
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