Brat summer took over the world with everything from TikTok dances to style trends featuring oversized sunglasses paired with an unapologetic cool-girl attitude. Charli XCX became a household name across the globe, but her success wasn’t overnight. While she’s the artist behind the Brat sensation, how does one handle the pressure of maintaining that height of relevance? It’s no secret that fans—and even record label executives—ask a lot from their favorite celebrities. But the impacts of that are rarely seen so raw and full of humility as in The Moment, showing a side of Charli that takes a superstar and makes her relatable.
Firstly, The Moment is for more than just fans of the British pop star, which isn’t apparent from the outside looking in. The film wasn’t the story that I was expecting. As a fan of Charli xcx’s music, I was ready to hear some of her most iconic songs and live within Brat summer one last time. Rather, what I experienced was a woman laying out the costs of fame. From her hair falling out to her vision taking a backseat for the sake of profits, the film is a mockumentary that feels like a dark reality tied to a truth audiences rarely have a chance to see. The film starts as Brat summer is already a worldwide cool-girl phenomenon and challenges Charli to make it last for as long as it can.
With concert movies, brat-green LGBTQIA+-friendly credit cards, and an appetite for nonstop partying, The Moment often shows how art loses its flair when the artist isn’t allowed to express it how they want. It’s less about the Brat craze that we all know; it’s more about the artist behind the album—how this music wouldn’t exist without Charli doing it all herself, touching on how long she’s been working on her craft. But it also shows the toll it takes to continue an upward trajectory and capitalize as much as possible on being the “it girl,” stripping away the personal meaning that the art holds and making it another commercial product ready to be consumed on a material level.
When The Moment introduces Johannes Godwin (Alexander Skarsgård) as a director attached to Charli’s upcoming concert film, tensions begin to rise. Honestly, the thought of there being a concert film only made me wish that there was actually a chance to see the Brat tour on the big screen. Johannes is hired by Atlantic Records to capture the Brat Tour while making it consumable for all audiences, per the Amazon Music guidelines. It’s the first peek into how Charli and her creative director, Celeste Moreau Collins (Hailey Gates), have to face the possibility that their unique vision of the tour will have to take a backseat to Johannes. With Charli being the face of party-girl culture, the excess—implications of drug use, curse words, and the embracing of chaos—was something Johannes wasn’t interested in, taking the work that Charli painstakingly created and turning it into a PG-13 amalgamation that screams desperation through corporate acceptance.
Aidan Zamiri choosing The Moment as his first feature is an exciting choice, especially when the film is so heavily focused on showing an artist submitting herself to a bastardized version of her own creation. No doubt it’s intimidating to work with someone who has such a strong grasp on herself and the image she shows the world as Charli, and the film shows the respect that Zamiri has for that vision. His direction always puts the focus on choices, and often on how these choices aren’t being made by those with the best interests at heart. The Moment is an original idea from Charli, but it’s Zamiri who brings it to life with a touch that highlights the hard work that goes into art and makes it consumable for the person it’s meant to reach. Zamiri doesn’t hold back that at the end of the day; musicians do want to make money, but not at the cost of their dignity.
It’s been entertaining to see Charli step into the world of acting, with 2025’s 100 Nights of Hero showing her as an ethereal muse, with more projects on the way. While it’s a role that is literally meant for her, The Moment allows her to be honest with fans and naysayers alike. Honesty is shown in her annoyance at having to constantly be this idolized version of herself that the public demands. Many artists struggle to figure out how to top their peak or how to follow up with their next moves. Some of her best interactions are with Skarsgård, with them butting heads on what is empowering for women and what is degrading. A pairing that should be in many more movies to come, especially comedies. Charli doesn’t shy away from the desperation stars cling to for a longer time in the spotlight; her work here is a solid performance in her budding acting career.
Although the film doesn’t have as much of her original music as one would think, there are still moments where her iconic dance-pop tracks can be heard in the background or played in brief segments. It’s refreshing that co-writers Zamiri and Bertie Brandes choose to show the pettiness of companies when their favorite moneymakers do something to upset them, and how celebrities aren’t immune to moments of self-doubt. They poke fun at the overconsumption society at large has with famous people, where each part of their personality is treated like a marketing tool. The Moment goes back and forth with its pacing, and that’s the film’s one fault: either it’s moving at lightning speed, or it has stretches of long-winded bits that don’t quite land. Kylie Jenner makes an appearance as herself, and although she has some killer line delivery, their exchange felt like a friend just wanting another friend in their new movie. Yet the film succeeds as a vessel for Charli to not only partake in jabs at her public persona but to show that we don’t need another celebrity perfume ad—what we need is originality.
It wouldn’t be a Charli xcx experience without heavy strobes and a neon-green aesthetic. The Moment is an extension of the visual language Charli established with her sixth album, Brat, and it helps that some of the same people who crafted her past music videos are involved. Zamiri and Charli just click on every creative level, and the result is a stunningly shot film that examines the life of a cool girl. Cinematographer Sean Price Williams catches the audience’s attention right away; his work is flashy and captures the passion Charli expresses through her body. Williams utilizes mirrors and reflections to his advantage, letting us see what Charli sees when she looks back at herself.
While The Moment isn’t always what you’d expect, it’s better for it, giving a voice to Charli that she has worked her entire career to possess. Combining her love for film and music, she shows that without an artist, there’s no meaning behind art owned by a corporation. While The Moment has its lulls within the script, Zamiri keeps audiences engaged with a pop star’s perspective that feels more like reality than satire.
The Moment is currently playing in theaters courtesy of A24.
While The Moment has its lulls within the script, Zamiri keeps audiences engaged with a pop star’s perspective that feels more like reality than satire.
