‘Michael’ Fans Danced in the Aisles, Critics Be Damned

They came in their sequined gloves and shiny loafers, their black fedoras and red leather jackets. They danced in the aisles and sang the hits at the top of their lungs. They moonwalked, kicked their legs and leaned like smooth criminals. They let bygones be bygones.

Critics have largely savaged “Michael,” the biopic of Michael Jackson that opened on Friday in theaters across the globe. One dismissed it as a “bland and barely competent daytime TV movie”; another as not a movie at all but a “filmed playlist in search of a story.” Yet to the legions of Jackson’s fans, the glossy film was just cause to celebrate the greatest pop star of all time.

Over the past few days, Jackson fans turned their local theaters into makeshift concert halls. Admirers broke out into dance at a showing in London. Others shimmied and spun in the aisles in Atlanta.

Countless fans dressed up as Jackson, including Grace Acosta, 35, who could not contain her excitement as she rushed into a movie theater in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan on Sunday, sporting a red “Thriller” jacket and matching pants.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/movies/michael-jackson-movie-fan-reactions.html