Director: Aidan Zamiri
Writers: Aidan Zamiri, Bertie Brandes
Stars: Charli XCX, Hailey Gates, Alexander Skarsgård
Synopsis: A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
If the navel-gazing Hurry Up Tomorrow focused on Abel Tesfaye’s murder of his The Weeknd persona, then one can examine Aidan Zamiri’sThe Moment as the ultimate assassination of the “Brat” era that has defined Charli XCX ever since the release of her best-selling 2024 record of the same name. This end of an era, certainly alienates more than it gives fans something to hold onto, especially to the ones who are still reeling through the highs of brat summer, and feels more like a mockumentary crafted for the chronically online generation (replete with cameo appearances from the Swiftologist and Anthony Fantano) than something of genuine substance that will make either fans or the layperson have newfound appreciation on the public persona Charlotte Emma Aitchison has carved as a singular artist throughout her multifaceted career.
Its opening two minutes are unwatchable. A succession of strong, Paul Sharits-esque colors flickers with the dangerous, strobing intensity of Gaspar Noé’s Lux Æterna, immediately assaults the viewer, and overwhelms their senses. It might be the understatement of the year, but people with any type of photosensitivity or epilepsy should stray away from this film – and urgently. While the strobe dies down after such an abrasive and confronting cold open, subsequent title cards contain the same flickering intensity and remind you that Charli XCX’s personality is anything but the singer she once was when her debut album, “True Romance,” was released.
The rest of the film is a self-aware, and often endearing, riff on This Is Spinal Tap (Charli’s Version, mind you), where the singer/songwriter is planning her first-ever tour in the wake of brat’s success and is consumed by the perhaps skyrocketing fame and adulation she received. Her agents are planning an Amazon-exclusive concert film directed by renowned auteur Johannes Goodwin (Alexander Skarsgård), which seems to dismantle everything Charli has built around Brat and turn her into someone she isn’t. Parallels to Hurry Up Tomorrow will obviously be mentioned in many reviews, but The Moment is a more thematically (and aesthetically) interesting film that peers into the mind of Charli’s artistic intents moreso than The Weeknd’s vanity project.
The only point of comparison between the two works is that both artists are tired of the personalities that have defined much of their musical careers and beg their fans to move on and accept their next endeavors on their own terms. However, Charli’s desire to move away from Brat, and perhaps introduce herself in the world of film (as she is set to star in at least six confirmed titles, including crafting an entire soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights), reads more sincere, even if the movie might not entirely work.
For instance, everything related to Skarsgård’s overzealous director is fine for a chuckle or two. The best bit is when he develops a real-time aversion to strobe lighting and bans it entirely from the concert film set, because that’s how I felt watching the film’s cold open, practically with my eyes closed. However, it might not be an ideal narrative for several extended sequences that don’t really go anywhere, or for a finale that aims to give viewers a quasi-payoff but feels more like an on-the-nose scene for industry veterans.
The film also frequently loses itself in multiple thematic avenues that begin as interesting but land with little impact by the time it trudges through its concluding section. That said, better to have a pop-star project full of intriguing ideas that are messily fleshed out than attempting to idolize the main point of focus as a musical deity, which Charli consistently rejects in this movie, even while interacting with fans. In fact, the most compelling aspect of The Moment is how aware Charli is that the Brat movement has gone completely out of control, and how she wants to clearly distance herself from what is (so far) the most significant achievement of her career.
As someone who is not into contemporary pop music (at all), even I can’t deny that brat is a masterpiece and indeed a watershed moment (ha) for our current internet-obsessed pop culture. However, the phenomenon has quickly become an annoyance for Charli, who has publicly expressed a desire to let it go and wants to finish it off in a way that clearly signals to fans that it’s time for her to enter the next stage of her career. Obviously, this critic is no prophet or clairvoyant, but Charli’s introduction in the film world doesn’t seem to be like a one-and-done thing for the pop star. She wants to show how versatile a performer she can be, and her self-referential turn as a fictionalized version of the persona she created may be her biggest stroke of genius yet.
Those who doubted that Charli could pull off a good on-screen performance, after viewing Abel Tesfaye’s flop sweat in both The Idol and Hurry Up Tomorrow, can put those doubts to rest. Her love of the film medium can’t be overstated, and the references imbued in the project give much enjoyment out of seeing a fictionalized Charli attempt to end an era that will always follow her – no matter what. In that regard, her performance feels like a genuine revelation and a sign of great things to come, if her upcoming collaborations with Gregg Araki, Daniel Goldhaber, and Takashi Miike are as strong as her first “real” entry into the world of film. Cinematographer Sean Price Williams gives an alluring quasi-vérité aesthetic to Charli’s journey of self-discovery in The Moment, depicting her anguish in a world that still refuses to let go of brat and the movement it created. However, for her to move forward,brat must die. It may be a tough pill to swallow for the fans who have made it their entire personality and perhaps found solace in her songs about (literal or metaphorical) cocaine. That could be why some moviegoers might be immediately put off by what Zamiri’s film proposes to audiences. However, it is a necessary step for an ever-evolving artist to take, because Charli XCX is not done being the moment – and won’t be anytime soon.
