‘Michael’s Audience Score Proves Critics Wrong on Rotten Tomatoes

Music biopics tend to live or die on whether audiences actually feel the performer at the center of them, and that’s always going to be especially true with a figure as huge and contested as Michael Jackson. Michael was never likely to arrive quietly, and it definitely hasn’t. The film has taken a bruising from critics, with a mixed-to-poor critical reception on Rotten Tomatoes, but regular moviegoers are seeing it very differently. That split has now become one of the story’s biggest talking points.

Critical barbs were aimed at the film for, in essence, “playing it safe” and portraying Jackson as an almost saintly figure who could do no wrong in his life, while completely glossing over his legal issues — if you wish to put it mildly. However, Michael Jackson fans do see him as a deity, and that’s been reflected by reactions. On Rotten Tomatoes, Michael is currently sitting at a 96% audience score, while its critics score is much lower at 40%. That’s a pretty dramatic divide, and it suggests the film is connecting far more strongly with the people actually buying tickets than it is with reviewers.

Collider’s review leaned on the positive, with Taylor Gates stating that Michael does not reinvent the music biopic, but it still works better than expected thanks to its performances and its focus on the Jackson family drama. The film takes on the nearly impossible task of trying to capture Michael Jackson’s life in a single movie, and while it cannot fully do that, it does succeed in showing the pressure, loneliness, and intensity that shaped him.

Who Stars in ‘Michael’?

The cast is led by Jaafar Jackson — the son of Michael’s brother, Jermaine Jackson — as Michael Jackson, alongside Juliano Krue Valdi (The Hug Machine, Bunk’d) as young Michael, Colman Domingo (Rustin, Sing Sing) as Joe Jackson, Nia Long (Love Jones, The Best Man) as Katherine Jackson, Miles Teller (Top Gun: Maverick, Whiplash) as John Branca, Laura Harrier (Spider-Man: Homecoming, BlacKkKlansman) as Suzanne de Passe, Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries, All Eyez on Me) as Diana Ross (whose role was ultimately excised from the film), Larenz Tate (Menace II Society, Love Jones) as Berry Gordy, Jessica Sula (Split, Skins) as La Toya Jackson, Liv Symone (Power Book III: Raising Kanan, The Girls on the Bus) as Gladys Knight, Kevin Shinick (Robot Chicken, MAD) as Dick Clark, KeiLyn Durrel Jones (The Other Black Girl, The Rookie) as Bill Bray, and Kendrick Sampson (Insecure, The Vampire Diaries) as Quincy Jones.

Michael is playing in theatres now.

Release Date

April 24, 2026

Runtime

130 minutes

Writers

John Logan

Producers

Graham King, John Branca, John McClain