Film

This Is It

Name: This Is It
Genre: Music, Documentary
Released: 2009
Cast: Michael Jackson, Orianthi, Kenny Ortega, Dorian Holley, Patrick Woodroffe

Backstage musical

This Is It is a documentary capturing Michael Jackson's final rehearsals for his planned London residency in 2009. It's intimate, exhilarating, and melancholic—a glimpse of an aging performer wrestling with his body and perfectionism while choreographing what would have been his greatest show. Essential for fans; haunting in retrospect.

TMDb rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want to see a band of dancers and musicians sweat over every eight-count, and you're curious how a perfectionist bandleader builds a show from nothing.

Skip it if you want a conventional concert film with finished numbers and a clear arc, since this is mostly rehearsal room chatter, scattered staging notes and waiting around between takes.

What it asks of you: Expect a loose, unhurried patchwork at just under two hours, where the pleasure comes from watching small corrections add up rather than from being pulled along by a plot.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Shine a Light2008

Scorsese films the Rolling Stones' final Beacon Theatre performance. Pure energy, legendary musicianship, and the electricity of a live event captured with total mastery. The Stones still had it.

But It's a concert film first and foremost—if you're not interested in the Stones or live performance spectacle, there's limited narrative to grip you.

Hoop Dreams1994

A documentary following two basketball prospects over five years reveals ambition, systemic failure, and the price of chasing a dream. It's intimate, sprawling, and deeply human without a shred of sentimentality.

But Nearly three and a half hours, and it moves like a patient essay. Some will find the pacing glacial even when the stakes are high.

The Last Dance2020

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' final championship run, told by the team itself. Explosive, strategic, and driven by obsession. You see how greatness demands total sacrifice from everyone around it.

But It's as much about ego and dysfunction as it is about excellence. If you prefer your heroes uncomplicated, this will disappoint you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from This Is It

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Defiant Ones2017

Both are behind-the-scenes stories about towering figures at the height of their power. Jackson saw rehearsal as artistry; Iovine and Dre saw dealmaking the same way. Both films show genius as meticulous, exhausting work.

An eight-part series on Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's relationship—how a white record exec and a Black producer built Beats and changed music. It's about partnership, ambition, and the deals behind the deals.

But It's primarily about business and ego rather than the music itself. Some episodes feel like extended LinkedIn profiles, and it occasionally veers into hagiography.

Amy2015

Asif Kapadia's documentary on Amy Winehouse uses archival footage and interviews to map a trajectory from joy to self-destruction. Formally brilliant and devastating—it feels like watching someone you care about fail in real time.

But It's relentlessly bleak and offers no redemption. The ending is known and unbearable, and the film doesn't look away from it.

Madonna: Truth or Dare1991

Documentary-meets-concert-film following Madonna's Blond Ambition tour. Sex, power, vulnerability, and complete control—Warren Beatty famously asked why she even needs to speak when she can just perform.

But It's dated, it's MTV-paced, and Madonna's manipulation is sometimes uncomfortably transparent. Your tolerance depends on your appetite for controlled provocation.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster2004

Three years inside Metallica as they write an album, go to therapy, and implode. Unflinching, funny, and a masterclass in conflict. You see the mechanics of a legend malfunctioning.

But Nearly two and a half hours of middle-aged rock musicians in therapy discussing their feelings. If that sounds tedious, the film won't convince you otherwise.

Muscle Shoals2013

A small studio in Alabama became the heart of American soul music. The film traces how a place and its musicians shaped decades of hits, with genuine reverence for craft and community.

But It's a love letter without friction. There's little conflict, and it moves at a genteel pace that some will find slow.

Senna2010

Asif Kapadia's study of the Formula 1 driver uses only archival footage—no interviews, no narration. Pure visual storytelling about obsession, nationalism, and tragedy. Technically astonishing and emotionally devastating.

But If you don't care about racing, the film assumes knowledge you might not have. It's also deeply sad, and there's no comfort offered anywhere.

Searching for Sugar Man2012

A documentary tracking down a forgotten folk singer who became a legend in South Africa. It's a mystery, a journey, and ultimately a meditation on the work versus the myth. Genuinely uplifting.

But The pacing is slow and deliberately mysterious. Some will find it precious or overly sentimental about vinyl culture and lost legends.

Man on Wire2008

Both films are about meticulous preparation for a single, unrepeatable performance. Both are about an artist's compulsion to do something dangerous that no one asked them to do. Both capture the obsessive perfectionism that makes greatness possible.

A documentary about Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers—told as a heist film, with reenactments, interviews, and genuine suspense. Virtuosic filmmaking about virtuosity itself.

But The reenactments are stylized and occasionally undercut the documentary form. It prioritizes drama over straight documentation, which some find manipulative.

Unforgiven1992

Both are about legendary performers confronting the gap between their reputation and their body. Jackson rehearses what he can no longer do; Eastwood's gunslinger is haunted by what he used to be. Both are autopsies of greatness in the rearview mirror.

Clint Eastwood's Western about an aging outlaw pulled back into violence. It's a reckoning with myth, masculinity, and the cost of a reputation. Slow, deliberate, and shattering—a film that understands regret.

But It's a meditation on decline dressed as a Western. There's no action spectacle, and the violence, when it comes, is ugly and demoralizing rather than cathartic.