commentary 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. “Michael” is bizarre because everything left unsaid still lingers between the lines, sandwiched between the formidable melodies of his greatest hits, like toxic ooze leaking out from the middle of two slices of Wonderbread.…