Square One: Michael Jackson

What Is the Series About?

Square One: Michael Jackson is a 2019 feature-length documentary directed by Danny Wu and available on the Apple TV Store. Released on October 5, 2019, the film revisits one of the most explosive and divisive celebrity legal controversies of the 1990s: the child sexual abuse allegations made against pop superstar Michael Jackson by the Chandler family. Rather than presenting a neutral overview of events, the documentary takes a clear argumentative stance, assembling interviews and evidence with the stated aim of making the case for Jackson's innocence.

Running approximately 1 hour and 23 minutes (listed as 1h 28m on Apple TV), the film is not a traditional episodic true crime series but a single investigative feature in the tradition of advocacy documentaries. It stars journalist Charles Thomson, director Danny Wu himself, and Josephine Zohny, among others who were close to or knowledgeable about the original case.

The Case

The events at the heart of Square One date to 1993, when Jordan Chandler — then just 13 years old — and his father, dentist Evan Chandler, alleged that Michael Jackson had sexually molested the boy. The allegations emerged in California and rapidly became a global media event, given Jackson's status as perhaps the most famous entertainer in the world at the time.

California law enforcement launched a criminal investigation, and the Chandler family simultaneously pursued a civil lawsuit. The criminal investigation was extensive, involving searches of Jackson's Neverland Ranch property and a controversial physical examination of Jackson himself. However, despite the intensity of the investigation, no criminal charges were filed against Jackson in connection with the Chandler allegations.

In early 1994, the civil case was settled out of court for a reported sum in the tens of millions of dollars — a settlement that Jackson's supporters argued was a pragmatic business decision to avoid prolonged litigation, and that his critics interpreted as an implicit admission of wrongdoing. Jordan Chandler did not testify in criminal proceedings.

The Chandler allegations cast a long shadow over Jackson's career and public image for the rest of his life. A second set of allegations from another family led to a 2005 criminal trial in Santa Barbara County, in which Jackson was acquitted on all counts. Jackson died on June 25, 2009, of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication, before any further legal proceedings could occur.

According to Wikipedia's summary of the documentary, Square One examines the original Chandler allegations in detail and argues systematically for Jackson's innocence, positioning itself as a counter-narrative to documentaries and media coverage that have portrayed Jackson as guilty.

Production

The documentary was directed by Danny Wu, who also appears as one of the film's on-screen subjects. According to Apple TV's description of the film, Square One "strategically uncovers new evidence and information through interviews with people closest to the situation" — a framing that signals an investigative, advocacy-oriented approach rather than a strictly neutral journalistic one.

The film features Charles Thomson, a British journalist who has written extensively about the Jackson case and is known for his pro-Jackson analysis of media coverage. Josephine Zohny also appears in the documentary. The production draws on interview access and documentary evidence to build its argument, though the full scope of its source materials and production process has not been extensively detailed in publicly available press coverage.

The film was made in the context of a fiercely contested public debate about Jackson's legacy — a debate that intensified following the release of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland earlier in 2019, which featured detailed abuse allegations from Wade Robson and James Safechuck. Square One can be understood in part as a direct response to that cultural moment, offering a counterpoint perspective grounded in the earlier 1993 case.

Reception

On IMDb, Square One: Michael Jackson holds a rating of 7.4 out of 10, reflecting a broadly positive response from viewers who engaged with the film. The rating suggests that the documentary is considered well-made and compelling by its audience, though it is important to note that documentary films about contested cases often attract viewership skewed toward those already sympathetic to the film's argument.

The film is inherently controversial. It occupies a polarized cultural space: those who believe Jackson was guilty of the alleged crimes are unlikely to view the documentary favorably, while those who believe he was the target of false allegations or a miscarriage of justice are more likely to rate it highly and recommend it. Rotten Tomatoes categorizes it as a documentary/drama/music title released on streaming in 2019, though detailed critic score breakdowns are not widely available in sourced press coverage.

The documentary's release in 2019 — the same year as Leaving Neverland — guaranteed it significant attention within the Michael Jackson fan and advocacy community, as well as among journalists and commentators covering the ongoing public debate about Jackson's legacy.

The Case Today

Michael Jackson has been deceased since June 2009, meaning that the question of criminal accountability for the 1993 Chandler allegations can never be resolved through the courts. The civil settlement reached in 1994 remains the only formal legal resolution of the Chandler family's claims.

The broader public debate about Jackson's guilt or innocence continues with considerable intensity. The 2019 release of Leaving Neverland reignited global discussion, prompted broadcasters to pull Jackson's music, and led to renewed scrutiny of the 1993 case alongside the newer allegations. Square One represents one of the more formally constructed documentary arguments on the pro-innocence side of that debate.

Jordan Chandler, the alleged victim in the 1993 case, has largely remained out of the public eye in subsequent decades. Evan Chandler, his father, died in 2009. The legal and evidentiary record of the 1993 case — including the details of what investigators found or did not find — remains a subject of active dispute among researchers, journalists, and advocates on both sides of the Michael Jackson controversy.