The Nostalgia of the Micheal Jackson Biopic

April 2026 introduced a great new Biopic of Michael Jackson called “Michael”. The interesting thing about it is that the actor that plays young Michael is his actual nephew, Jaafar Jackson. The movie depicts Michael’s life throughout his fame and fortune including his early years in his family band” Jackson Five”. It was rated average in IMDb and below average rotten tomatoes.                                                                                                                               

Many people complained that the movie didn’t fully depict Michael harsh reality and may have sanitized over it. For example, some may say it doesn’t really grasp his culture but instead used the term “whitewash” to describe it. They also described that it felt like superficial montage instead of a deep, dramatic exploration of his life. Instead, it only depicts him as a saint in his legacy from reviews online.                                                                                              

This also stirred another controversy because Michael Jackson was known to have child abuse allegations later in the 90s which they failed to show in the movie. They also did not add Janet Jackson and some of Michael’s other siblings. The movie also seemed pretty rushed which caused also other controversies to the movie. But other than these details they have missed, many people enjoyed the movie for other reasons.                                         

    Many reviews have exclaimed that Jaafar Jackson did not fail to depict Michael nostalgic feeling to older audience. This also gave it a boost and gave it a 97% audience rating. Core performances people think Jaafar has gotten praised for was his performance for “Thriller” and “Billie Jean”. It also shows the joy and success in his life even if it did not quite fully depict his life. Another review says it gives a concert like feeling because of the high-energy sound systems. Overall, the movie was rated a must see if you want to feel the nostalgic feeling from Michael’s music life from the Jackson 5 to his later solo life that gave him the name “Pop King” run through music history.