Widely considered one of the most anticipated films of the year, ‘Michael’ made its debut on Friday, April 24. While it had the biggest opening weekend in the box office for any biographical picture ($97 million in North America alone and $217.4 million globally), fans and critics alike are torn on how they felt about the film.

Though the movie showed some hardships of Michael Jackson’s life, it felt grossly downplayed. There were many instances where Joseph Jackson, played by Colman Domingo (‘The Running Man’), got into an argument with Michael (Jaafar Jackson). However, it lacked any real substance or weight. There were also two scenes where Joseph whipped Michael as a child with his belt. In the first instance, we saw the lead up as well as the aftermath with Michael crying, but the second one was just him being brought into a room and the door shutting. While the cuts shunned any unpleasant images, it also took away from what Michael was going through. Since he has passed, we will never know the true extent, however, they could have done more than what we saw as the audience.

Other noticeable absences from the film included people close to Michael, such as Diana Ross and his own sister, Janet Jackson. Though Kat Graham (‘The Vampire Diaries’) was initially cast to play Ross, her scenes were later cut due to “legal considerations.” While it is not explicitly said why either women were not in the movie, it is speculated that they were not interested in actor portrayals. Since Michael and Janet were so close, it is not very shocking that she was missing, considering she may have not wanted any information misconstrued. However, the gap was undeniable, especially if viewers tried to count how many siblings Michael had on screen and realized that there was one missing. 

Speaking of siblings, ‘Michael’ portrayed the relationships with the Jacksons in a much brighter light. The film showed the Jackson brothers being supportive of Michael through his solo career, however, the reality of the situation is that they were not. To any hard-core Michael Jackson fans, it is well known that Marlon, Tito, Jackie and especially Jermaine, were highly jealous of Michael’s rise to fame. Similar to Joseph, there were instances where they treated Michael just as a source of money. Perhaps the portrayal was due to the fact that the brothers were heavily involved as executive producers, but we may never know.

Compared to other biographical pictures such as ‘Rocketman’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which focused on Elton John and Freddie Mercury, respectively, ‘Michael’ just fell short. And literally too, because the film did not even go into his whole life, only his rise to stardom. It  ended abruptly in 1988 with the single line “his story will continue.” While it was confirmed that there is a second film in the works, a release date has yet to be determined.

All in all, it was a good film, had great casting and brought back the nostalgia of hearing Michael’s songs. However, to say it is a factual depiction of Michael Jackson’s life would be giving it a bit too much credit.