Michael

image for Michael

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 12 (violence, themes, coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Michael
  • a review of Michael completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 27 April 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to violence, themes and coarse language.
Children aged 12 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and coarse language.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Michael
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, family violence and coarse language
Length: 126 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Michael stars Michael Jackson’s nephew (as an adult) Jaafar Jackson and tells the story of Michael Jackson, up to when he quits the Jackson family band. As a young boy, Michael (Juliano Valdi) is the youngest of the Jackson 5. Although a seemingly glamourous life for a very talented child, Michael’s childhood was very troubled. He had a difficult relationship with his very controlling father Joseph (Colman Domingo) and had no friends due to his fame. Michael lived in a fantasy world, reading books and watching movies with his mother Katherine (Nia Long). His only friends were his pets.

As Michael grew older and more famous, the family’s income expanded which enabled them to live a luxurious lifestyle. For Michael, this meant he could keep more exotic pets, such as a chimp, a giraffe and a llama. Michael longed for independence from his family but always feared his father. He managed to escape the family clutches for a while when he made the famous album, Thriller. Joseph, however, managed to bring him back into the family band without his knowledge. Michael announced at the final concert with his brothers, that this was the last time they would perform together.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Child abuse and exploitation; Family violence; Pop music.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Joseph removes his belt and lashes young Michael with it vehemently. Michael cries and screams in pain.
  • Katherine stands up for Michael and tells Joseph he mustn’t hit him anymore. Joseph leans over Katherine and yells at her.
  • A film clip is shown in which a woman hits a masked man with an object and his mask cracks.
  • During a performance, Michael’s hair catches alight and the fire spreads quickly. He falls to the ground screaming and is badly burnt.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Michael’s Thriller video shows him dressed as a zombie and supported by a dance crew, also all dressed as zombies. Michael’s eyes look huge and scary.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Michael tells his Mum that he has no friends. All the kids at school just stare at him and want to take his photo.
  • Joseph is a large, intimidating man.
  • An unmasked man has a horribly deformed face.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Young Michael is seen crying and hiding in the bathroom.
  • Michael has surgery on his nose which leaves his face covered in bandages. His eyes are swollen and black. He lies to his father and tells him he had an operation on his sinuses.
  • As an adult, Michael cries when his father yells at him.
  • Michael goes to visit sick kids in a hospital. Many are seen with bandages around their heads and intubated.
  • A news clip is shown about gang warfare. A man is seen wheeled out on a stretcher, scarred and injured.
  • Michael’s manager pushes MTV to play his video but it is apparent that MTV doesn’t play black artists.
  • Joseph threatens Michael by telling him if he goes out on his own, he will have no family.
  • Michael is taken off in an ambulance after he is burnt on stage. His life is under threat having suffered third-degree burns to his face and eyes. He is shown with his head covered in a bandage and is in a lot of pain. Joseph asks the doctor if he’ll ever be able to perform again.
  • Another man is shown in the burns unit covered in bandages.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Marlborough cigarettes
  • Twister
  • Yahtzee
  • Uno
  • Pepsi
  • Coca Cola.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • There is drinking of alcohol at several venues.
  • Several characters smoke cigarettes and Joseph smokes a cigar.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • How the hell?
  • Goddamn
  • Arsehole
  • Schmuck
  • Shit
  • Arse
  • Bunghole
  • Bullshit.

In a nutshell

Michael is a biopic about the legendary Michael Jackson. The performances by his nephew Jaafar Jackson, and Juliano Valdi as young Michael, are very well done. However, the film is very dramatic and shows the troubled relationship Michael had with his father Joseph. It is therefore more suited to teens and adults.

The main messages from this movie are to be true to yourself and to shine your light in the world.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • To bring joy to others
  • Creativity
  • Hard work
  • Discipline
  • Resilience.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Michael is always afraid of his father Joseph, who was a cruel and controlling man. Several times, Michael tries to tell him he needs his independence but he is never able to. He gets his manager to send Joseph a letter, firing him as his manager and makes an on-stage announcement to end his career with the family band. The movie shows that Michael escaped into a fantasy world to cope with his situation. Parents could talk about what other choices Michael could have made for himself.