Antoine Fuqua's biopic of Michael Jackson, the most transcendent pop star ever, is too reverential and has nothing original to say. Produced by his family and close associates, the film could have been a chance to look at the star up close in a different way, but instead is too sanitised, bland and flat.

The film begins in 1966, with a young Michael (Juliano Krue Valdi) rehearsing with his brothers at home under the rigid supervision of their father Joseph (Colman Domingo). A timid Michael cannot even meet his father’s gaze while singing, while his mother, Katherine (Juliano Krue Valdi), just watches regretfully but is too scared to intervene.