Charli xcx is one of today’s most defining pop artists, so the title for her first film in a starring role, The Moment (2026), feels apt. Co-written and directed by her longtime photographer and collaborator, Aidan Zamiri, in his feature debut, and being distributed by A24, Charli xcx is looking to step into the cinematic arena with fanfare. Why shouldn’t she? After all, one of the many tenets of Charli’s well-constructed online identity is her appreciation for cinema, as evidenced by her Letterboxd reviews going viral. All that being said, The Moment is an odd mishmash of a project.
Aidan Zamiri’s movie presents itself as a satirical mockumentary, yet it lacks the conviction to sustain that format. Outside of a couple of scenes, you can never tell why Charli xcx is being followed around by cameras. For how much Charli and Zamiri have referenced Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap (1984) as inspiration in the press, The Moment fails to commit to the docu-artifice. Moreover, its satire reads as shallow, aiming to be a critique of capitalism and stardom while also functioning as a glorified advertisement for Charli xcx’s smash hit album, brat.
Crucially, the project feels scared to be too subversive or sincere, coated in multiple layers of irony that make it hard to connect to its central figure. Despite all that, Charli xcx is a magnetic screen presence throughout. Aided by a confident, sharp aesthetic, The Moment is at the very least a handsomely produced film.
Charli xcx Acquits Herself Well
So, what is The Moment about? International superstar Charli xcx (played by herself) is riding high off the success of brat and is in the midst of planning a new tour with her close friend and creative director, Celeste Moreau Collins (Hailey Benton Gates). As the stresses of her new level of fame compound, Charli’s record label pitches Amazon the idea of doing a brat concert film on the tour’s opening night. She reluctantly accepts, only to learn that her label has hired the lucrative director Johannes Godwin (Alexander Skarsgård) without her or Celeste’s input. As Godwin starts to drastically change her live show, Charli starts to wonder if an eternal “Brat Summer” is something she even wants anymore.
The majority of people walking into The Moment are doing so for its central subject. By that trade, Charli xcx acquits herself quite well. Acting and music are two very different skill sets, but Charli portrays a fictionalized version of herself as a three-dimensional character whose desire to hold onto mass adoration begins to alienate those around her. At no point does her performance translate as artificial. Considering the plot’s partially fictionalized nature (an opening disclaimer states that real people’s names had to be changed for legal reasons), Charli genuinely surrenders herself and shows vulnerability. All The Moment truly needed to do was show Charli xcx could act, and the answer is a resounding “yes.”
An Overstuffed Cast
The cast surrounding Charli xcx is a mixed bag, though. There are some heavy standouts, of course. Alexander Skarsgård (The Northman, Pillion) is the obvious one. His hack filmmaker character consistently misunderstands the appeal of brat and gets the lion’s share of the laughs. Hailey Benton Gates (Atropia, States of Undress) turns in reserved, powerful work as someone who is seeing a dear friend and collaborator lose her integrity. Unfortunately, the rest of The Moment is packed out with so many side characters that none of them really get to make an impression.
Courtesy of A24
Hollywood veteran Rosanna Arquette makes an impression from the start, then barely gets to do anything the rest of the film. The same goes for comedian Kate Berlant, whose humorous talents are sorely underutilized. Meanwhile, characters played by Jamie Dimetriou, Rish Shah, and others basically serve the exact same purpose. The celebrity cameos, as themselves, are frankly sort of embarrassing. Everyone from Rachel Sennott to Kylie Jenner (strangely a highlight), Julia Fox, and even internet music critic Anthony Fantano make brief appearances, and nearly none of them land as memorable. They are given little to do, outside of reminding us that, yes, Charli xcx is friends with these people.
Aidan Zamiri & Bertie Brandes’ Script Is Half-Baked
It doesn’t help that the screenplay, co-written by director Aidan Zamiri and journalist Bertie Brandes, never catches wind. Structurally, The Moment is a series of vignettes, which could work if the individual pieces had a sense of propulsive energy. In practice, these vignettes play more like concepts that didn’t get fleshed out. Additionally, The Moment tries to critique how the music industry exploits its artists for capitalist gain, yet the film includes copious amounts of product placement that doesn’t feel “in on the joke.”
A whole subplot involving a brat green credit card, specifically marketed to Charli’s queer demographic, threatens to be interesting until it becomes annoying. Simply put, the story at hand doesn’t have many cohesive ideas, let alone anything that hasn’t already been said before in much better films, namely Josie and the Pussycats (2001), which Charli herself has cited as another influence. The entire script of The Moment gestures at interesting ideas that it doesn’t seem interested in fully seeing through.
The Moment Hardly Connects to Its Target Audience
Funny enough, The Moment almost comes across as hostile to Charli’s dedicated fan base. The use of songs from brat is minimal, and Charli’s fans are portrayed as either faceless hordes or hysterical weirdos. Going back to the brat credit card subplot, the film throws “jokes” about Charli’s prominent queer audience that read as more mean-spirited than perhaps they should be.
The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) was criticized for coming across as a cheap vanity project, despite its intentions as an earnest look at the artist. St. Vincent’s The Nowhere Inn (2020) took a similar tactic to greater success. The Moment arguably tries to peel back the layers on Charli xcx in a similar vein. However, besides a strong monologue towards the end, the rest of the movie feels afraid to be genuine. As scathing as that sounds, The Moment has some redeemable aspects. Aidan Zamiri shows potential behind the camera, while cinematographer Sean Price Williams and composer A.G. Cook keep up a strong energy. Even when nothing is really happening, per se, The Moment nearly tricks viewers into excitement.
The Moment isn’t the brat movie most fans are expecting, nor is it altogether that compelling as its own vision. Where its script and expansive supporting cast fail, Charli xcx the actress and Aidan Zamiri the director make strong cases for themselves. Although the project doesn’t entirely come together, it serves as a proof of concept for those two and gets the job done. It’s fair to say, above all, that The Moment ends the brat era with a shrug rather than a bang.
★ ★ 1/2
The Moment premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and hits theaters on January 30!
Release Date: January 30, 2026.
Directed by Aidan Zamiri.
Written by Aidan Zamiri & Bertie Brandes.
Based on an original idea by Charli xcx.
Produced by Charli xcx & David Hinojosa.
Executive Producers: Brandon Creed, Johann Knobel, Zach Nutman, & Mikey Schwartz-Wright.
Main Cast: Charli xcx, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, Alexander Skarsgård, Rish Shah, Trew Mullen, Kylie Jenner, Rachel Sennott, Arielle Dombasle, Mel Ottenberg, Richard Perez, Tish Weinstock, Michael Workéyè, Julia Fox, Shygirl, & A.G. Cook.
Cinematographer: Sean Price Williams.
Composer: A.G. Cook.
Editors: Bill Sneddon & Neal Farmer.
Production Companies: Studio365, 2AM, & Good World.
Distributor: A24.
Runtime: 103 minutes.
Rated R.
