In the summer of 2024, it seemed impossible to escape the neon slime color and lowercase text of Charli xcx’s sixth studio album, Brat. For a movie about the feel-good party season that never seemed to end, Charli and director Aidan Zamiri have taken a rather different approach than the traditional concert film featuring behind-the-scenes snippets of tour life and rehearsals leading up to a big show in front of waves of screaming fans. “The Moment” is something different, a big swing into the mockumentary genre satirizing the pressures of pop stardom and the struggle for creative control. It doesn’t always work, but Charli xcx, as ever, throws a wild party.
Following an exaggerated version of the star herself, Zamiri’s “The Moment” begins with a bang: Charli xcx dancing among strobe lights that change from green-to-blue-to-red complete with a flashing light warning. It’s September 2024, a few months into the newly minted “Brat” era, but the party atmosphere simmers down once Charli catches her breath. Then it’s on to London, then a British Vogue video shoot, terse Zoom calls in the limo, and finally, back to a party for a much-needed stress break. Being famous is a grind. The hurricane around Charli is only growing more destructive as plans for a concert film mess with her creative process and her relationship with her creative director. With the label (headed by Rosanna Arquette), managers, and now a highly-opinionated and patronizing director (Alexander Skarsgård) trying to dictate how best to keep Brat Summer going forever, Charli xcx must figure out what Brat means to her and whether or not to keep “the moment” going.
To her credit, Charli xcx throws herself into the role, playing the part of a mercurial pop star who’s trying to be cool in spite of all the outside forces meddling with her vision. She is her own wild card, quickly changing gears and sending her team scrambling to accommodate each new mandate. At times, she can be off-puttingly selfish, but again, this is the satire world version of Charli, likely standing in for similar stars who after pouring their energy into a hit-making album struggle to figure out what’s their next move. “The Moment,” which is based on Charli’s idea and experiences then expanded into a script by co-writers Zamiri and Bertie Brandes, may lack in concert footage but it is full of jokes about the industry, including a pretty clever subplot about a “Brat”-branded credit card that causes trouble for Charli and a string of never-ending ads and commercials featuring the star hawking everything from skincare to wine. In our current state of celebrity culture, it seems like an inescapable part of the machine, alongside the late-night talk show stops and long hours spent in the make-up chair. A number of cameos also add to the movie’s madcap spirit including Kate Berlant, Kylie Jenner, and Rachel Sennot, who delivers the withering line, “Are you doing the Joaquin Phoenix thing?” Indeed, there is a bit of Casey Affleck’s “I’m Still Here” in the DNA of “The Moment” as well as “This Is Spinal Tap” with the inclusion of questionable stage props and even a bit of Howard Stern’s “Private Parts,” a fictionalized version of Stern’s fight with the suits with a healthy dose of irreverent humor.
Zamiri, who previously collaborated with Charli xcx on her music videos “360” and “Guess,” joins forces with cinematographer Sean Price Williams to bring a stylish approach to the film, one that after the bombastic opening, doesn’t get too many opportunities to shine. Instead, the film takes on a faux cinema vérité approach, watching the events unfold when both the film crew are and aren’t there. With so much going on, “The Moment” loses its momentum about halfway through, meandering between interpersonal skirmishes a la “The Thick of It” without the quick editing or the zingers. The party spirit never quite recovers its kinetic presence.
Despite its messy second half, it’s amusing to watch Charli skewer her own public persona, celebrity culture, and its corporate packaging, poking fun at money-driven executives and how other creative forces can affect the way we see our favorite performers. “Brat Summer” was a vibe until it wasn’t. “The Moment” is Charli xcx’s kiss off to the end of an era, a parting gift to the last Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
This review was filed from the world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It opens on January 30th, 2026.
