The Real Michael Jackson

Since 2019, the debate about Michael Jackson has intensified, and opinions about how he should be remembered are now more fractured than at any time since his death a decade ago.

In this one-off, feature-length film, Jacques Peretti - who has spent much of his life analysing Jackson, having made three previous films over 15 years - goes back to Jackson’s beginnings, charting his rise and fall and seeking a fuller picture of this complex, contradictory character by exploring the clues that were missed. He investigates how Jackson become what he was, whether he manipulated his fame and the entertainment machine to conceal the truth and what the audience’s part was in it all.

What emerges is a fascinating, thoughtful and multi-layered reappraisal of one of the world’s most famous and controversial artists that investigates what the public failed to see - or were willing to ignore.