Micheal: A brief review of Pre Horror

Micheal: A brief review of  Pre Horror 

The performances are 9/10. The story follows what was probably true. The animals are cute. The only part that slows the movie down is when Micheal is watching TV and he gets an idea for a song. Maybe it really happened this way, but from a story structure stand point, it bleeds the film of its drama. That doesn't doom the movie though. This film's mission is to set the stage, establish who Micheal was before 1988. It does that in a heartfelt way. The sequel will finish the story, and im not privy to this, but I bet the sequel's tragedy will make us wish for quaint moments of the first movie that we easily missed.

That being said,but what does this film say about horror today?

It’s haunted by a silence. The audience knows that the innocence will end. An inevitable doom hangs over the peaceful scenes. It creeps in when Micheal complains about the size of his nose. Or when Micheal is dancing in a sound booth, no sound other than his voice and the patter of his feet. These subtle cracks hint at the dread that he will face later.

The film’s wholesomeness disguises these public perceptions of downfall.

Innocence, beauty, childhood, family life, the animals. The audience knows that they will become corrupted. Not because they deserve it, but because it is fragile. When Bubbles makes his first appearance, it’s heartwrenching. Not just because the chimp wears an adorable diaper, but because we see how delicate Micheal’s psychology is. We know the animals will not end up with Micheal in the end. They serve as symbols of his innocence, and we know it won’t last.

The drama is increased by these decisions, but what matters here is that none of this happened over night. It’s not a horror film, but is it uncanny. The constant physical changes that Micheal endures throughout his life lead to the horror of who he will ultimately become. The horror is the process of transforming into Micheal Jackson.

A normal boy is transformed into the mask of a celebrity. His body is beaten until he moves like he has no bones. He is isolated until all he can think about is the show. Then he begins altering the man into a superstar. It starts with a flanel shirt. Then a nose job. Then a greater transformation happens after the Pepsi incident. The man we see at the end is no longer the little boy we saw in the beginning, and there’s calm before the storm.

Micheal succeeds not in shocking the audience, but by letting them simmer with what they already know. It’s calm and sincere, but there’s a shadow over Micheal since the very beginning. It feels like pleasant memories before everything goes downhill. The kind moments when Micheal is spending time with sick kids. It tickles our sympathies because we know it won’t last. If the sequal follows this path, then it will be more than a biopic. It will the most epic tragic film of the 21^st century.

Thank you for reading :)