By George & Josh Bate
Charli xcx ascended to superstar status in late summer 2024 when “Brat Summer” took over the world. The distinctive green color of her minimalist album cover art was everywhere. Social media was flooded with people replicating the apple dance. Even the definition of the word ‘brat’ was even altered in the dictionary. A feature film about the Essex-born fixture of pop music seemed inevitable given her immense popularity, perhaps one that serves to highlight the global and cultural impact of her record brat. A24’s new movie The Moment is far more than a highlight reel for Charli xcx’s monumental album – it’s a frenzied meta satire mockumentary that skewers the extent to which capitalism has encroached on art and gives one of the world’s biggest pop stars ample opportunities for self-indulgence and self-deprecation.
From director Aidan Zamiri, The Moment stars Charli xcx as a fictionalized version of herself. After the whirlwind of “Brat Summer,” Charli prepares for her first ever arena tour, while desperately trying to hold onto the viral phenomenon that fostered her surge in popularity. Inundated by agents, business executives, label managers, epic pushers, crew people and a charming yet unsettling documentary filmmaker (Alexander Skarsgård), Charli finds herself overwhelmed as she realizes her sudden stardom comes at a steep cost.
Directed with palpable style and energy. The Moment unfolds with anxiety reminiscent of Uncut Gems. Zamiri’s film begins abrasively, immediately plummeting audiences into a sensory experience filled with quick edits and cuts as Charli xcx dances and sings amidst rapidly flashing lights. Although Zamiri tones the flashing lights and loud music down after this introduction, he imbues every moment of the proceeding film with a similarly effective frenzy. Characters talk over one another, handheld camera work creates a dizzying effect, and flashing on-screen text fluctuates colors and introduces audiences to every new location. The result is a film that showcases the perpetual motion of a global pop star, constantly pushed and pulled in different directions with performances, video shoot, photo shoots, brand partnerships, media appearances, and more to undertake.
Pulling the viewer out of the rampant anxiety, however, is a mishandling of the mockumentary genre. The Moment unfolds from the perspective of cameras that follow Charli xcx around, although the reason is never fully explained. Zamiri fails to commit to the mockumentary format by consistently having cameras depict events from perplexing locations and inconsistently having characters acknowledge or address their presence. This means that, for long stretches of the film, one loses sight of the fact that this is a mockumentary, only to be momentarily pulled out of the moment (and out of The Moment) by a character’s occasional acknowledgment of a camera. It’s understandable why Charli xcx and Zamiri wanted their film to be a mockumentary as it has the potential to enhance immersion and realism. But the failure to follow the internally-established rules of a mockumentary means The Moment’s attempts to foster immersion botch the very thing they seek to achieve.
Nonetheless, in capturing the intensity (and absurdity) of Charli xcx’s myriad of obligations, The Moment serves as a scathing satire on the music industry. It’s not lost on the audience that Charli, at the peak of her popularity, finds herself more detached from her art than ever. She’s become a hot commodity, whose days are more so spent checking boxes and signing deals than they are tapping into her artistic sensibilities that got her into this position of immense stardom in the first place. The lines between art and commerce become increasingly blurred for Charli as the film steadily pivots away from self-indulgence and toward self-deprecation.
But, as a satire, humor and commentary go hand-in-hand. Even if it were just because of Charli’s reactions to the absurdities of the music industry surrounding her, The Moment would be an exceedingly funny movie. But throw into the mix all the weirdness that comes from Alexander Skarsgård’s enigmatic and parasitic concert documentarian Johannes, the personification of anxiety that is Charli’s manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou), and the array of eccentric personalities determined to cash out on Charli’s fame and Zamiri’s film becomes a rollicking comedy.
Skarsgård in particular is a highlight, playing the handsome yet soulless director hellbent on transforming brat into a brand appropriate for audiences of all ages. No one plays subtly (or not so) subtly weird like Alexander Skarsgård, and his role as Johannes gives the Swedish actor ample room to flex these skills. As the film progresses, Skarsgård’s role expands and eventually converges on a sharp and truly hilarious conclusion to a story that sees Charli xcx (the character and the real-life person) come to terms with the impermanence of popularity.
If there’s any complaint to lodge against The Moment, it’s that the film never quite shakes an aura of self-indulgence. Even as Charli xcx pokes fun of herself and deftly deconstructs the brat movement, one can’t help but feel there’s a lingering sense of unfounded self-importance seeping through the film. Perhaps even a cursory acknowledgement of the ultimate lack of importance of her work would have given Zamiri’s movie a much-needed dose of humility. But the absence of such humility prevents the film from reaching the emotional heights its conclusion shoots for. One can’t quite call The Moment pretentious, although it certainly veers a little too close to that label.
VERDICT: 6.5/10
Global superstar Charli xcx headlines a clever meta satire of the music industry in The Moment. Director Aidan Zamiri’s film proves far more than just a highlight reel of Charli’s monumental album brat – it’s a frenzied mockumentary that skewers the extent to which capitalism has encroached on art and gives one of the world’s biggest pop stars ample opportunities for self-indulgence and self-deprecation. While the former rears its ugly head too often, the film nonetheless captures the absurdity of the music industry with a palpable anxiety reminiscent of Safdie brothers’ movies. As all great satires do, the commentary of The Moment goes hand-in-hand with humor, resulting in an exceedingly funny movie. Charli xcx’s reactions to the flood of obligations and people in her way alone are enough to make the film humorous, but add on top of that a subtly weird and scene-stealing Alexander Skarsgård into the mix and the film transcends to hilarious territory. The Moment may pull viewers out of its scathing critiques and razor sharp humor with its mishandling of the mockumentary format and fails to reach its intended emotional heights in the absence of much humility, but it nonetheless excels as a deconstruction of the brat movement and, quite to our surprise, will appeal to those who don’t admire or even know Charli xcx.