Kimball Film

By Ryan Boss
May 5th, 2026

When discussing Michael Jackson, it’s impossible to ignore the scale of his cultural presence. There are very few figures in modern history whose fame approached his. Michael Jackson was more than a pop star; he was a phenomenon. A brilliant creative mind and an extraordinary performer, he possessed a level of charisma that made every appearance feel like an event. What made Michael Jackson a “unicorn” is not that he was born one, but that he was a man carved into one. He wasn’t just some miracle to stare at, he was a person, and a very special one at that.

That is what makes Michael such a disappointment. When it comes to the myth of Michael Jackson, this movie is an insult to his legacy and life as a performer. He is completely uninteresting, stripped of any complexity to showcase a squeaky-clean image of the man. We rarely get any sense of interiority; he has hardly any desires, ego, self-doubt, or interests outside of playing with toys. His every decision feels phony. I’m sure he put more thought into his album covers than shuffling a deck of index cards across a board. I’m sure he had more relationships than with his dad and a chimpanzee. There is never a sniff of personal depth anywhere. This two-hour film is a montage of Jackson’s greatest hits with no weight to make them feel that great. It becomes a tedious chore to sit through two hours of lesser music videos about a phantom you don’t know.

An hour into the film Michael has a meeting with producer John Branca (Miles Teller) where he says something along the lines about how he “wants to be the biggest star in the world.” This took me by surprise. It was the first time his character had any sense of desire and it almost feels out of nowhere. So far, we’ve seen Michael sing and perform because his father makes him. Sure, we get small glimpses of Michael wanting to branch out, but it never really feels clear that this is what he wants outside of this one explicitly stating it, a character motivation that spends the rest of the film underbaked.

Though he’s never given the chance to completely sell it, Jafaar Jackson is quite astounding to watch. He kills every single song and dance and has an uncanny resemblance to the real Michael at times. One could write that off as Jafaar’s direct relation to Michael, but it’s clear Jafaar has put in the work to embody the soul of his uncle. For a film that always has a paper-thin view of the King of Pop, Jafaar is always there grounding him down with his caring, deep portrayal.

Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo can’t keep up with Jackson, delivering a performance that’s gaudy and hammy. Often wide-mouthed and wide-eyed, he feels like a cartoon villain in the wrong movie. He’s not well-served by the script either, which repeatedly has him reacting to news that he’s been fired by his son.

The most baffling decision of the movie is to center the film on the time in Michael’s life in the Jackson 5 but to show no interest in any of his brothers. They’ll stand in the background like bobbleheads, lucky to get a word out or to even have the camera pan by their faces. The story is all about Michael trapped in this band we don’t know anything about, and, like every other detail in the film, it highlights the filmmakers’ interest in showing the mascot of Michael Jackson without ever showing a glimmer of his soul.

Ultimately, Michael is completely inefficient in its attempts to show Michael Jackson: the Person. If you are interested in 2 hours of music videos, this may be for you. If you’d prefer to learn or see any peek into the man, you may need to look for something else.