Michael (12A)
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
★★☆☆☆ 

IF YOU are expecting a comprehensive warts-and-all music biopic on the life and legacy of Michael Jackson think again as this is just an homage showcasing his greatest hits. 

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, written by John Logan and produced by the Jackson estate and five of his siblings, the film centres on the singer’s life between 1966 and 1988 — the rise of the Jackson Five and the launch of his solo career

Screen time is given to his relationship with his controlling and bullying father and manager Joseph. The film depicts the emotional abuse and beatings Michael suffered at the hands of his dad, superlatively portrayed by Colman Domingo, which are hard to watch.  

Unsurprisingly the film steers clear of all controversies, especially the child sexual abuse allegations whose depiction was reportedly removed. What is surprising is that Janet Jackson doesn’t appear at all and is never mentioned while Michael’s brothers have little to say.

This is a biopic by (musical) numbers lifted by notable performances by Juliano Valdi (steals the film) and Jaafar Jackson as the young and older Michael respectively.

Jaafar, Michael’s real-life nephew, in his first acting role looks and sounds like his uncle. In the meticulous recreations of Billie Jean, Beat It and Thriller it looks like you are watching the real Michael Jackson while the making of the iconic Thriller video is the highlight of the film. 

Michael ends on “his story continues” so let’s hope the next one does better justice to him than this sanitised version.

MD

In cinemas April 24. 

The North (15)
Directed by Bart Schrijver
★★☆☆☆

DUTCH director Bart Schrijver gives us a new take on the road movie. At a snail-paced trudge, we accompany two guys who have decided to hike the 600km West Highland Trail 10 years after they first met. One is Dutch Chris (Bart Harder) and his mate is Luis (Carles Pulido) from Latin American.

Schrijver manages to make even the Highlands’ magnificent scenery seem ordinary.

The photography is profoundly unimaginative and the monosyllabic grunting between the two, most of which involves “Yeah, man,” exchanges, offers no antidote to shots of the two huffing and panting as they battle the steep and rocky paths, against a skyline of heather covered hills.

Chris, judging by the calls he has to continually fend off, is a modern overstressed professional; Luis has ditched his job shooting wedding videos and is now looking to find his true creative role in life.

Why they are doing this 600km West Highland trail, we never really discover, but you feel they are trying to retreat somehow into a past that is not recoverable.

The pace taxes one’s interest and stamina, and we learn little about their lives, despite the opportunity offered by such a long and intimate journey.

Hardly inspiring or revelatory.

JG

In cinemas April 24. 

Exit 8 (15)
Directed by Genki Kawamura
★★★★☆

THIS minimalist psychological horror set in an endless sterile subway corridor is a masterclass in claustrophobia, paranoia and uber tension which will give you the chills. 

Co-written and directed by Genki Kawamura, this is a faithful adaptation of the 2023 Japanese indie game Exit 8. It is just as creepy and frightening but raises it to a new cinematic level. 

It follows a man (Kazunari Ninomiya) who becomes trapped in this white tiled passageway and the rules are if you spot an anomaly, you must turn back and if you don’t see any you carry on until Exit 8. Overlooking one oddity sends you back to the start. 

You feel his growing desperation and fear as he suffers continuous setbacks and an existential crisis heightened by Maurice Ravel’s Bolero which adds to the intensity. 

Will he ever escape this Morbius Strip? It’s a must see.  

MD

In cinemas April 24. 

Rose of Nevada (15)
Directed by Mark Jenkin
★★★☆☆

THIS time-travelling ghost ship tale proves another surreal and haunting drama from writer-director Mark Jenkin.

It centres on a mysterious boat that vanished 30 years earlier with everyone on board which suddenly reappears at a forgotten Cornish fishing village on the decline. Two men (played superbly by George MacKay and Callum Turner) join the crew and find themselves being transported back three decades to the same harbour where they are mistaken for the original men who were lost at sea. 

Nick (MacKay) is desperate to return to his wife and young daughter while Liam (Turner) embraces his new identity and a wife and daughter to boot. 

The film explores personal sacrifice and the power of community which seems to have been lost in today’s society and certainly in Nick’s former life. It feels like a fevered dream or nightmare which stays with you. 

MD

In cinemas April 24.