Aidan Zamiri\u2019s mockumentary The Moment transports audiences back to the waning days of Brat Summer. Charli XCX, playing a lightly fictionalized version of herself, is caught in an omnidirectional game of tug of war as social media managers, corporate sponsors, agents, and a harebrained Swedish director try to milk \u201cbrat\u201d for all it\u2019s worth in the form of a concert movie. Perhaps needless to say, it\u2019s so confusing for the hyper-pop star.<\/p>\n
As Charli tweaks the final leg of her Brat tour with her creative director and closest confidant, Celeste (Hailey Gates), a series of corporate decisions upend what should be a victory lap. A brat-themed credit card becomes a legal minefield, and just as Charli and Celeste are ready to give the final seal of approval to the audiovisual programming for the last few shows, which the concert film will document, an enigmatic director, Johannes (Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd), steps in with designs to change everything about the show. Convinced that taking the Brat tour in a more family-friendly direction would increase sales, Johannes sanitizes everything about Charli\u2019s irreverent identity, to the befuddlement and, eventually, horror of Celeste.<\/p>\n
Zamiri, a longtime collaborator of Charli XCX, brings a hyper-pop sensibility to The Moment with abrasive strobe effects, flashing brand and title cards, and hazy, multicolored cinematic textures courtesy of cinematographer Sean Price Williams. Neal Farmer and Billy Sneddon\u2019s fast-paced cutting, particularly in the sequences where Charli\u2019s entourage barrages her with questions and tasks, comes to feel like a mirror of the noise inside the singer\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
While the various throwaway lines and subtle reaction shots in these sequences are entertaining, The Moment is bound to test your patience. Courting our fatigue may be part of the film\u2019s design. After all, The Moment, like Charli XCX\u2019s Brat<\/a> itself, is about chasing a high. But considering how Celeste\u2019s concert design, which more closely resembles Zamiri\u2019s abrasive strobe-heavy sensibility, is presented in the narrative as the sacrificial lamb to Johanne\u2019s PG-rated one, it\u2019s doubtful that the film actually intends for us to grow tired of its sensory overload.<\/p>\n That wouldn\u2019t be a deal-breaker if the story\u2014corporate forces compromise an artist\u2019s vision, stressing her out and causing her to burn all sorts bridges\u2014felt substantial enough to support the 103-minute runtime. The who\u2019s-who cast of the media world, from comedians to bona fide superstars, points to The Moment\u2019s interest in placing vibes above storytelling, which also wouldn\u2019t be a problem if the film weren\u2019t scattered with little moments that break the diegesis of its documentary approach. (One montage shows various teenagers across the globe seeing a social media post pop up on their phones the moment it goes live, which may have you wondering how cameras were stationed in all these locations in the first place.)<\/p>\n The Moment begins as a satire, but after a while it attempts to evolve into something much more earnest, with Charli opening up about the insecurity and vulnerability that sparked \u201cbrat\u201d and all that it cost her. In this moment, it\u2019s hard to doubt the sincerity of her introspection, but one gets the sense that Zamiri\u2019s film is trying have its cake and eat it too.<\/p>\n Nowhere is this incompatibility more apparent than in The Moment\u2019s final stretch, where we see the product of Johannes\u2019s vision: a concert devoid of Charli\u2019s signature British debauchery. Underscored by an ironic \u201cBittersweet Symphony\u201d needle drop, this sequence attempts to take shots at all the cloying aspects of something like a Taylor Swift concert film. But as it functions as a kind of punchline to Charli hitting rock bottom, it creates a tonal whiplash that only reinforces that farce and sincerity make more odd bedfellows across the film.<\/p>\n Score:\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \u00a0Cast: Charli xcx, Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Gates, Arielle Dombasle, Kylie Jenner \u00a0Director: Aidan Zamiri \u00a0Screenwriter: Aidan Zamiri, Bertie Brandes \u00a0Distributor: A24 \u00a0Running Time: 103 min \u00a0Rating: R \u00a0Year: 2026 \u00a0Venue: Sundance Film Festival Since 2001, we’ve brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we\u2019re committed to keeping our content free and accessible\u2014meaning no paywalls or fees.<\/p>\n If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon<\/a> or making a donation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aidan Zamiri\u2019s mockumentary The Moment transports audiences back to the waning days of Brat Summer. 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