The “Michael” movie has arrived, opening in Berlin — one of the strongest fan bases anywhere in the world for Michael Jackson — and let’s just get straight to it.
This film, hitting theaters in the U.S. on April 24, is a “thriller.”
From the choice to launch in Berlin to the action throughout, it’s clear this film understands its audience. It knows who has carried Michael Jackson’s music, his image, and his legacy across generations and across continents.
Viewing the film takes this reporter back to December 2024, sitting in a Las Vegas hotel suite with Jackson Estate Co-Executor John Branca, who spoke about this project with a level of confidence that didn’t leave room for doubt. He talked about honoring the music, about giving the fans something worthy of what Michael created.
That’s exactly what this is.
The Washington Informer was among those provided with a special screening on March 31, weeks before the official opening, and from the first seconds, the film makes its move.
“Wanna Be Startin’ Something” hits, and it doesn’t build slowly, it drops viewers right into it. The rhythm, the sound, the movement. The same song that opened tours like Victory and Bad now opens the film, and it works the same way — audiences are hooked, immediately.
The film goes back to Jackson’s home in Gary, Indiana, where the estate continues to honor fans by hosting a private screening for residents of Michael’s hometown on April 13.
The film isn’t glossy. It isn’t soft. And it doesn’t pretend that Jackson had anything close to a typical childhood. There’s no playing outside, no carefree days, no sense of ease. What audiences see is structure, expectation, and pressure that never lets up. A household where greatness wasn’t encouraged but demanded.
Colman Domingo steps into the role of Joseph Jackson and doesn’t just play him, he locks into him. The posture, the tone, the control. It’s not exaggerated. It’s not theatrical. It feels real, particularly as this writer knew the late family patriarch.
“We started by having great conversations about men that we know, that we’re raised by, men of a certain generation, men like Joe Jackson who were sort of, you know, raised and came up pre-civil rights,” Domingo said in an interview with Black Girl Nerds.
And then there’s Jaafar Jackson.
This is where everything could have gone wrong, as the nephew is taking on the title role of his uncle. However, he settles into it. There are moments when viewers will stop thinking about who’s playing the role and just see Michael.
Both Domingo and Jaafar should easily have their names bandied about when decision-makers decide on whom to nominate for some of Hollywood’s most prestigious awards.
Indeed, the Antoine Fuqua-directed and John Logan-written film makes a clear decision about the rise of an incredible and sometimes indescribable talent.
“Michael’s story’s so epic and so full of these incredible, iconic moments,” Fuqua told Black Girl Nerds. “We just talked a lot about making sure that it was more personal, as intimate as possible so you can get to know him as a human being.”
Inside the Film: Unknown Tales, Who’s In and Who’s Missing in Action
The film also contains a standout scene between Joseph Jackson and boxing promoter Don King. Two alpha figures. King hands Joseph a Cuban cigar, saying it came straight from Fidel Castro, pressing him for assurance that Michael will be part of the Victory Tour and the promotion of the mega-event. Joseph gives that assurance—steady, and firm. The tension in that moment says everything.
Great attention to detail also allows the film to provide space for Bill Bray.
Bray wasn’t just Jackson’s head of security. He was a presence, protection, and Jackson’s guidance. If people saw Bray, the pop star was nearby. And when he steps in to check Joseph, you understand his importance immediately.
Then there’s Branca.
Not just as a character, but as a force behind the business. The man who helped orchestrate deals that changed music forever including the acquisition of the ATV catalog, known to many as the Beatles catalog.
The film doesn’t over-explain it. But it’s there.
Janet Jackson isn’t in the film, and neither is oldest sister Rebbie, whom Michael gifted her only hit song, “Centipede.” Yes, people will notice. Reports say Janet declined involvement. However, La Toya appears, and that choice seems to carry its own meaning.
And the family’s presence behind the scenes matters—four of Jackson’s brothers, including the late Tito, and Michael’s son Prince, serve as executive producers.
By the end, audiences are not thinking about what’s missing, but about the music, movement and feeling.
It stays with the music. And yes, that decision to do that was shaped in part by reality. Recent reports suggest that the film originally went further, but legal issues forced a complete reworking of the third act, shifting the ending to the height of the “Bad” era.
What audiences get is an honest portrayal of Michael at his peak—on stage, in control.
“So you can get to know him as a human being when he doesn’t have that cape on, on the stage being the superhero that we know,” Fuqua said in the Black Girl Nerds interview.
‘Michael’ Offers Inspiration
Through the film, fans and, perhaps, those beaten up by the many struggles defining today receive a reminder of what it took for the King of Pop to achieve such worldwide success.
In a day of eliminated federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, “Michael” highlights how the celebrated performer made MTV accept Black artists and how “Thriller” became and remains the most successful and most talked about music video in history.
Further, with a war currently going on in the Middle East and the seemingly never-ending friction domestically, the film provides a compelling reminder about how Jackson made rival gang members call a truce as he engaged them and invited them to participate in his landmark “Beat It” video.
“It was really about bringing you into Michael’s world as much as possible as a human being,” Fuqua told Black Girl Nerds.
