The Moment review: Charli XCX reveals the hardships of pop stardom through a fake documentary

Hot off its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, The Moment is rolling into theaters. But what can fans of Charli XCX expect from this comedy that's masquerading as a documentary?

First off, let's not flat-out call this a "mockumentary." While that's not the wrong term for writer/director Aidan Zamiri's film, the popularity of the term typically used for Christopher Guest parodies and The Office might have moviegoers expecting a comedic romp. The Moment is far more dry and cutting than wacky. But make no mistake, it's awesome. 

The British singer/songwriter who redefined "brat" plays herself in a compelling, often unvarnished look at what it means to achieve massive fame at breakneck speed. Beginning in September 2024, The Moment kicks off at the tail end of "brat summer." 

With her sixth studio album becoming a massive hit that inspires memes, TikTok dances, and controversy, Charli XCX has her first arena tour ahead of her, pinned to brat. An eye-jittering montage of news clips and internet videos is intercut with flashing neon-colored production company logos, and Charli thrashing around in a feral dance under strobe lights. Right off, Zamiri captures the non-stop energy that is this 365 party girl's image. But once the montage stops, The Moment pauses on Charli, who practically collapses from her dance when "Cut!" is called. Just like that, she goes from fantasy to reality, and she's utterly exhausted. 

What's The Moment about? 

Charli XCX is credited with the original story behind Zamiri and Bertie Brandes' screenplay, which follows the pop star through business deals, meet-and-greets, and tour rehearsals, to a last-minute retreat to Ibiza, and onto the stage. Now, plenty of musicians have allowed camera crews behind the scenes for concert docs that reveal the human frailty behind the epic shows. But The Moment has more in common with St. Vincent's The Nowhere Inn, a 2020 mockumentary/psychological thriller that blended fact and fiction to explore the strangeness of being famous for your music. 

The plot of The Moment is Charli prepping for the tour, initially eager to collaborate with her trusted creative director, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates), who envisions each show turning the arenas into a nightclub, complete with strobe lights and flashing graphics that include the word "cunt." However, this hard party energy clashes with the vision of documentarian Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), who's been hired by a snarling record exec (Rosanna Arquette) to make the brat moment last forever with a concert doc that'll appeal to the mainstream and "dads."

This battle for creative control seems simple at first. Everyone from those above to Charli's timid manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou), her make-up artist Molly (Kate Berlant), and her famous friends, like Rachel Sennott (playing a comically shallow version of herself) insist Charli has the final say. But as pressure from the record company grows more intense, Charli realizes how little power she actually has, and struggles to make sense of what's best for her and brat. 

Far from finger-wagging or self-pitying, The Moment is electrifying. 

The faux documentary Zamiri has made is not presented as Johannes' concert doc. That faux documentarian is an antagonist to Charli, pushing her to change her image, her signature green color, and even "brat" itself, daring to capitalize the B. 

Yet within the film's logic, it's unclear whose movie we're watching. The camera crew and director stay out of frame. However, through the persistent strobe effects — which mirror the opening title cards and Celeste's vision for the brat tour — it seems the film is from Charli's perspective, even as she is intruded upon. The cameras invade squabbles with Charli's team, doing cocaine in a nightclub bathroom, and an emotional breakdown in a private resort. And whereas in a narrative film people would ignore the camera, those around Charli look right into the lens, audibly alarmed. The pop star doesn't look, implying that Charli has gotten so used to being watched that she doesn't even notice them anymore. 

This reflects the message at the core of The Moment. In a tearful phone message, Charli recounts how she made brat the way she wanted to. It was hers, and now everyone else acts as if it is theirs, as if she is theirs, and as if they are entitled to tell her what to do next. 

Rather than enjoying the success she dreamed of, she's being relentlessly pushed to make big decisions. Will brat define her for life? Will she cling to it or let it go to look for something new? Will it be destroyed by capitalism's insistence on making all art into a commercial opportunity? 

And yet, Charli is not painted as a pitiable victim of her own success or a noble heroine for creative freedom. The portrait she and Zamiri offer is more complicated and refreshing. She shares personal insecurities about her hair and body, showing herself flushed and without make-up next to a meticulously made-up Kylie Jenner, who is in a bikini to boot. Beyond creating space for the venting of her frustrations, The Moment also shines a light on the bad calls made when caving to studio pressure. Thus, Charli demystifies the glory of being a pop star by uncovering some unflattering truths about commercial compromise, even when you are the moment.

The Moment has a dry, razor-sharp wit. 

Not a romp or a laugh fest, this is the kind of movie where a laugh escapes you like a gasp or a scream, booming and deliciously surprising. There's cringe humor, like Sennott's scene, which plays like her HBO Max satire, I Love L.A., probing a particularly venal element of self-promotion. There are inside jokes that will only hit for Charli's fans, like a brief but biting appearance from Julia Fox as herself. For his part, Skarsgård is frightfully convincing as a faux-feminist douchebag. Then, there's Gates, whose bristled creative director is wickedly funny in her rage. Her delivery of the phrase "metaphorical cocaine" is sublimely absurd. 

Rather than broadly skewering the rich and famous, The Moment shrewdly targets the corporate side of making art for a living. Through celebrity cameos, a succinct yet riveting story, earnest emotion, and biting humor, Charli XCX's mockumentary captures something real about the battle of art versus commerce. How does one hold onto themselves when hit by an avalanche of more, more, more, for better or worse? The Moment shows one answer, urging audiences to find their own.

The Moment was reviewed out of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and opens in theaters on Jan. 30.