FEATURE:
An Imperfect Moment
Why the Charli xcx Mockumentary Is an Overdue Treat
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WHEN it comes to music…
PHOTO CREDIT: Hailey Benton Gates
bring represented on the small of big screen, there is not a lot in the way of visibility. There are music biopics and the odd film/series where music is at the heart, but it is not as visible and discussed as other genres and areas of cinema and television. When artists do appear on the screen, it is usually in a biopic. Big artists like Lady Gaga appearing in films. I have said how there are so many artists who would naturally translate to the screen and would make brilliant actors. Someone who has appeared in smaller roles but you can see doing big film roles is Charli xcx. She is an artist who has this screen presence. I would love her to appear in a range of films. The Moment is a mockumentary she is starring in. This is a genre of film that is always interesting. We are going to see this exaggerated version of Charli xcx. I think that something like this is overdue. Maybe because it offers a sense of levity at a very bleak time. Or that we rarely get to see major artists do something like this. So hallowed and revered by the press, we usually see all this gloss and shine. So much spotlight, focus and praise. It is wonderful, of course, but it can be a bit too much. It is hard to say why, but I do find myself looking for something a little scrappier or deeper. In terms of seeing an artist in a new light or them taking a different direction. This is a film that really accompanies her 2024 album, BRAT. One reason why The Moment is refreshing is because it is not the usual concert film you get. The big documentaries where you see the huge crowds and all the glamour and rapture. A much more interesting angle, The Moment will spotlight a more extreme version of Charli xcx, but also has this comedic tone. One could compare it to a film like This Is Spinal Tap. Variety spoke with Charli xcx recently about a film whose original pitch was too label-focused. She also discussed the recent Oscar nominations:
“Charli xcx is taking Sundance by storm ahead of the world premiere of “The Moment,” a concert mockumentary in which a fictionalized version of the pop star mounts an ambitious tour for her “Brat” album. The singer joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible hours before the film’s premiere and got honest about its origins, which included turning down her label’s original pitch.
“I was approached to make a more traditional tour film around the ‘Brat’ shows I was doing,” Charli explained. “It kind of felt like a way to elongate the life span of the album for my record label. I was just not really into that. I was only interested in flipping the form of something quite traditional.”
“I was thinking of how I could put a spin on a long-form film about what I had experienced throughout the album cycle. This is where I landed, this satirical take not only on the music industry but myself. It felt like a way into talking about pop culture, fame and the loss of art the second you put something out. This felt like a rich ground to breed ideas.”
Joining Charli in the film are Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Rachel Sennott, Isaac Powell and Alexander Skarsgård. Some actors play fictionalized version of themselves (Sennott), while others play fictionalized versions of real people on Charli’s team (Berlant is her make-up artist, for instance). The film is directed by Aidan Zamiri, one of Charli’s close collaborators during the “Brat” era as the helmer of her “360” music video and more.
“How cool and rewarding that ‘Brat’ was the most successful thing she’s ever done — something that she felt was such a true expression of her,” Zamiri told Variety in a pre-festival interview. “And then it’s interesting to see something like that become so global and so mass consumed that it became a commercial output for various brands.”
Elsewhere during her Sundance interview, Charli was asked by Variety’s Matt Donnelly about this week’s Oscar nominations. Charli is an outspoken cinephile, and her Letterboxd ratings often go viral across social media platforms like X and more.
“I haven’t looked at the nominations. I don’t know! I don’t know anything,” Charli admitted, although she was surprised to find out that Ariana Grande was snubbed in the best supporting actress category for “Wicked: For Good.” Grande and Charli worked together on the “Sympathy Is a Knife” remix off Charli’s “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.”
“Oh, Ari! She is amazing,” Charli said. “She goes full force. I literally do not know who is nominated or not, but that’s a surprise to me that she wasn’t.”
“The Moment” opens in theaters January 30, following its Sundance premiere”.
I do hope that The Moment reignites interest in BRAT. The biggest album of 2024, Charli xcx’s new album is out on 13th February. It is the soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights. It is this new direction and an artist stepping into writing for film. I do wonder how she will follow this and what the next album will contain. I have seen some mixed reviews for The Moment. However, there is this generational divide. Slightly older reviewers not aware of or fans of Charli xcx shrugging and writing it off. Whilst not perfect, Charli xcx is always engaging and eminently watchable. It is a brilliant concept. It is hard to ignore comparisons to a well-known music mockumentary. However, they are rare these days. You would like to see some major artists almost send themselves up like this. Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift or Harry Styles doing something like this. It would have been easy for Charli xcx to do a tour concert film for BRAT and follow everyone else. It would have been popular and well-received. However, The Moment offers something unexpected. A way to support the album but also move on. If some are not convinced by the plot, tone and highlight some drawbacks – I saw one review that said The Moment needs to be more broadly entertaining -, it allows Charli xcx to adopt an acting role rather than just being the artist. If contemporaries like Dua Lipa have stepped into film but it has not really ignited like you’d hope, I do think that Charli xcx will do a lot of huge film roles very soon. The Moment is fascinating. How people are reviewing and perceiving it. It is overdue because it departs from the usual concert film. They can be revealing and emotion, though it is very much the artist at their best. The celebration of massive tours and all the adulation. Here, there is something less perfect and almost self-deprecating. I want to bring in a review for The Moment. The Playlist provided their take on this wonderful new mockumentary:
“PARK CITY – In no manner of speaking can you prepare yourself for “The Moment.” Sold as a mockumentary centered on Charli XCX’s BRAT tour, the movie only hints at a narrative heading in that direction. It’s not a full-fledged comedy, and the only musical performance, if you want to call it that, comes under the opening credits. Instead, think of Aidan Zamiri’s feature directorial debut as a dramatic reenactment of an alternate timeline. A world where the pop dance superstar made choices out of fear instead of a cool, artistic confidence that is seemingly her calling card.
The film begins in a manner that the marketing has been selling audiences so far. Charli (Charlotte Emma Aitchison) has three weeks of rehearsals until the launch of her 2024-2025 BRAT tour. She’s just wrapped a crazy “BRAT summer,” after the release of her self-produced album BRAT, which became a pop culture phenomenon. Flanked by her manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou), her social media manager Lloyd (Isaac Powell), and assistant Ana (Trew Mullen), she films a Vogue “What’s My Bag” segment. Interview Magazine Editor-in-Chief Mel Ottenberg plays himself as a stylist for the shoot, having her sewn into a corset that will make her the first “bag” subject who participates standing up. This is played for laughs and hints at the movie you think you’ve signed up for.
Back in London, Charli’s record label, Atlantic, is visited by their American boss, Tammy (Patricia Arquette), who is preoccupied with a major credit card tie-in and concert movie for the tour. Tammy is thrilled to discover that the U.K. staff have already lined up the super-commercial director Joannes (Alexander Skarsgård, properly disturbing) to make sure the movie is a hit. Of course, no one asked for Charlie’s sign-off on any of this. She arrives at rehearsals to work with her assigned show director and creative collaborator, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates), the woman responsible for the BRAT aesthetic (in reality, the tour was conceived by Jonny Kingsbury).
When Joannes, who has a difficult reputation, shows up at rehearsals, it sets up a confrontation with Celeste, the record company, and Charli that becomes progressively tense. Yes, this film, which is occasionally funny, becomes a slow burn of genuine tension. History tells us that the tour’s creative, created by “Celeste,” was at the center of the show. As “The Moment” moves forward, there is an increasing sense of dread surrounding the proceedings and Charli’s choices. And that’s because, in this script written by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes, this isn’t a celebration of BRAT, it’s a deconstruction of it. This is a movie about a public figure who begins to question all the bold choices she made to reach this peak in the first place. Like her record label, she feels an inordinate amount of pressure to keep this era alive. She’s spent over a decade trying to reach the top, and she doesn’t want to crash now.
Granted, that’s not to say there aren’t funny moments. Rachel Sennott, who appeared in the “360” music video Zamiri directed, wonderfully pokes fun at herself running into Charli at a Paris after-party. Even Kylie Jenner, who also plays herself, isn’t afraid to let the audience know she’s in on the joke, or at least whatever Charli and Zamiri think of the Kardashians. For the most part, everyone else surrounding this incarnation of Charli is only there to raise her anxiety. She’s even afraid of getting sick from the kooky makeup artist Molly (Kate Berlant, who deserved more screen time). Decidely, Celeste is the only character in the film attempting to keep her friend, Charli, on track, whether it personally benefits her own career or not.
Without spoiling much, when things come to a head, Aitchison delivers a monologue as this version of Charli that is borderline heartbreaking. She’s essentially justifying her actions in the third act to the audience. Choices that would shock her fans and peers in the real world. She’s startlingly good. Even if she’s playing “herself.” Perhaps this is “The Moment,” the movie’s title refers to.
The fact that Aitchison approved this script will leave many in the music industry with some big questions. Even if the movie is sold as a fictional exercise. Is Tim, a deceptive manager you could never envision Charli having in her close circle, representing a previous manager/agent in her life? Despite her success on the charts, does she have genuine disdain for he record labe Are there really moments where Aitchison feels as isolated as this Charli? Were there moments here where there was no one to trust? (It should be noted that this Charli doesn’t have a longtime partner or future husband to turn to as she does in this timeline).
It goes without saying that Zamiri has taken a very big swing with “The Moment.” So, frankly, has Aitchison. The legacy of BRAT and Charli’s contributions to this particular era of pop culture are on the line (and so is her relationship with her fanbase). And while it’s not a complete home run – it is a wee bit too long and certainly not as funny overall as it should be – in the end, it delivers. Because, love it or hate it, this film will linger with you. You certainly won’t forget Aitchison’s stirring performance. And for someone who has become wonderfully astute in the history of cinema, Aitchison couldn’t ask for anything more”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hailey Benton Gates
I actually want to bring in a December interview from A Rabbit’s Foot. Charli xcx discussed her film ambitions, being inspired by cinema, and she also talked about The Moment. Her goal seems to show less Charli xcx in her performances. Maybe feeling too exposed or like there is too narrow a spotlight on who she is, cinema allows her to be different people and explore completely different sides. I think it is an interesting interview that ties into The Moment and where Charli xcx might head. Such a compelling and fascinating talent. A definitely natural and powerful screen presence:
“Prior to our interview, Charli had spent all day being photographed by director (and her friend) Hailey Benton Gates, and was courteous with her time, despite how demanding we were with it. But there’s a meta quality tied to this shoot, she explains, that makes it more fun. “I wanted Hailey to photograph me because she plays my creative director in The Moment and here she is now directing me in real life,” Charli grins. “Everything I do is meta.”
Perhaps that’s why the transition to acting has seemed so effortless. She already lives in cinema’s spiritual heartland Los Angeles, a city that she loves but is steadily falling out of love with (“the scene was better in 2015”). She’s spending a lot more time in New York, where many of the BRAT Pack reside. London remains special to her too, she smiles.
Charli recently published an essay on her Substack, explaining, “… As some of you may know I’m currently feeling more inspired by film than I am by music. Film is where my creative brain seems to be gravitating.” It follows acclaimed acting performances in 100 Nights of Hero (2025), Pete Ohs’s Erupcja (2025), and the announcement of a Tokyo-set series by the legendary provocateur Takashi Miike. That came about after she watched Miike’s Imprint (2006) and decided to call the Japanese filmmaker on a whim. “I never thought he’d respond but he did, we had a Zoom and are now on this project,” she says. “I just want to make the movies I love watching.”
The same day as the shoot, her video for the sweepingly romantic, kind-of-heroic new song ‘Chains of Love’, for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights adaptation, was released. It’s a prolific start.
But most personal is The Moment—a satire mockumentary directed by the talented Aidan Zamiri. It is a story borne from Charli’s experiences following the surreal phenomenon of BRAT and what followed, with characters inspired by the very real people in Charli’s environment at that time (there are cameos by Sennott, among others). “It’s a 2024 period piece,” she explains. It’s also, perhaps, the ultimate meta role. “The Moment is on the nose, but the last thing I want is to play a version of myself,” she insists, referring to the Charli xcx “It girl” persona—an incarnation of post-internet sass, sunglasses, and cigarettes (the Charli in front of me is unlike that; rather, more kind and grounded). Other directors—big directors—have tried to typecast her but Charli is a natural shapeshifter. “My biggest goal is to disappear, for people to not see Charli xcx in my performances. Like Tom Waits in Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother (2025).” She pauses at my reaction. “You don’t feel the same about Tom Waits?”
“I did,” I replied. But looking back, I’m not sure I was being entirely honest. Time will tell if Charli will, indeed, blend in how she wants to; nor is she being naive about the switch—she’s already been at the apex of one industry, and is doing her best to navigate a film career without making some of the mistakes a younger actor would. “I’ve paid the price for some decisions in music and I don’t want to do that with film—because I love film much more than music,” she says. It’s a relief, a chance to escape. Cinema offers new worlds and possibilities, and acting allows Charli’s inner chameleon to be free to create unbound. There is also the potential for humiliation, she explains—a thrill she hasn’t felt for a while now. “I’ve been on the same hamster wheel since I was 15. I don’t feel the danger with music anymore,” she continues. “I’m in control of every aspect of my music—the sound, my image, the performing. But with cinema, I have to surrender myself to someone else’s vision.”
Since seeing her on stage in that musty room in 2011, I’ve watched the evolution of Charli xcx: the femme fatale persona—not the mind behind the shades, the cigarette smoke, and the dynamic songwriting. But she has been telling us who she really is all along. When I compliment her recent essay and the insight it gave me into her practice, she half-frowns as though suggesting that I have underestimated, or at least misunderstood, her. Filmmaker Ariel Schulman, a friend of hers, told me after: “Charli’s one of the most published poets in the world right now if you think about how many people are listening to her lyrics. She knows how to say what she wants like no one else.”
Charli concurs. “I’ve always been open in interviews about my art. People just haven’t listened… or I’ve been taken out of context. Writing publicly lets me create the context.” The Moment serves the same purpose. It’s Charli speaking directly to the world about the surreal aftermath of BRAT. She thought the album would be niche—something for her fans. Instead, it became a global phenomenon, reshaped and meme-ified far beyond her control. “I didn’t know if I’d make music again. Everything I did would be compared to BRAT.” The fallout sent her into a creative fog. And for Charli, creativity is not optional; it is existential. “Look, you might think I’m being dramatic, but I talk to my husband about this all the time. I want to feel life on overload, at full speed. If I couldn’t create, I would die. Someone might say, ‘She’s over the top,’ but the past five years I’ve been frustrated with my music rollout. I hate going on tour—it’s monotonous. I like to be in the throes of creation constantly. This is honestly what keeps me alive”.
Available in the U.S. from 30th January and 20th February in the U.K and Ireland, you can stream it here. In terms of artists doing anything similar, I cannot see anything around. St. Vincent’s The Nowhere Inn of 2021 has a similar feel, but you don’t really get artists doing mockumentaries. There are so many great acts I would love to follow Charli xcx. In a wider sense, this is an artist who is exploring cinema. Her Wuthering Heights soundtrack is another example. I feel we will see a lot more Charli xcx on the screen. Maybe composing scores for films too. Whilst Charli xcx the artists will always record music, at the moment, she seems to want to see less of herself out there. In the sense of being this artist that we all know and love. Go beyond that and perhaps escape more into characters or versions of herself. The Moment will be so interesting to see, even if you do not know her music that well. The latest chapter from…
THIS modern-day music icon.