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The inescapable unease of the Michael Jackson biopic

Antoine Fuqua's "Michael" movie is fittingly odd, but not for the reasons you might expect

Published April 25, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)

Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson in "Michael" (Glen Wilson/Lionsgate)

If Michael Jackson’s estate hoped the late King of Pop’s long-gestating biopic would restore the singer’s shattered reputation and solidify his legacy once and for all, they probably shouldn’t have approved a movie so damn weird. It’s not because director Antoine Fuqua’s style is hackneyed, or that screenwriter John Logan’s script has all the dramatic tension of a glass of still water — though both of those things are true, too.…