- The film Michael, starring Michael Jackson's nephew Jaafar Jackson, has been widely panned by critics for offering a sugar-coated look at the world-famous singer.
- Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the biopic traces Michael Jackson's career from his early days in the Jackson 5 to his global superstardom as the King of Pop.
- The film currently has a 31 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, though Jaafar Jackson's performance and the musical sequences have received some praise.
- Reviewers have widely criticised the film for sanitising Michael Jackson's life story, notably omitting difficult subjects such as his painkiller addiction and the child sexual abuse allegations.
- The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey called the film ‘ghoulish’, noting its many scenes where Jackson visits sick children in hospital.
- Meanwhile, The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw said the biopic was “frustratingly shallow” and Rolling Stone’s David Fear wrote that the film was “depressing” and “isn’t really a biopic”.
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