Film Reviews

January 30, 2026

Despite "The Moment" following a niche group of people in a very exclusive, time-centric industry, it's curiously relatable to the masses. The filmmakers and cast relate it in such a way that the themes and messages feel applicable to just about any type of human-based unit—family, organization, friendship circle, etc.–and it gets us to recall our own experiences when there were too many cooks in the kitchen, too many dishes were being prepared all at once, and when we felt too much pressure to please too many people. We’ve all had these moments, and we’ll continue to have these moments—it's part of the ride after all—and sometimes the best thing we can do is simply recognize them and remind ourselves they're (hopefully) temporary.

The film presents a reality-TV-style snapshot of British pop singer Charli XCX and her devoted—perhaps too devoted—entourage and marketing team. It's a mockumentary of sorts, although perhaps the better word to describe it is "drackumentary" because the film is more serious and emotional than satirical and parodistic (it may borrow its structure from the pioneer mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap," about the titular, fictional band's quest to make a comeback, which bore hilarious consequences, but its tone is more in line with the actual documentary "Some Kind of Monster," about Metallica's internal and business conflicts). The camera follows Charli and her people around as they try to keep the once-enormous flame of her monumental "Brat" album still burning.

"Brat," released in June of 2024, with its signature neon green album cover, was a commercial and critical juggernaut in and of itself, but its popularity grew even larger when it became inextricably linked to Kamala Harris' presidential campaign after Charli tweeted "kamala IS brat." Following this windfall, Charli, who clearly has an acting career ahead of her (despite playing herself, she possesses a natural screen presence), finds herself in the middle of a tug-of-war match between her record company, Atlantic Records, who want to keep the "Brat" mania going, and her own desire to move onto something else.

Charli knows what "Brat" did for her in terms of her brand, but she doesn't want to keep rehashing it; she'd rather grow and evolve. This goes against the ideas of Jamie (Rish Shah) and Josh (Michael Workeye), a pair of opportunistic bootlickers who pitch the idea of a "Brat" concert film to Atlantic Executive Tammy Pittman (Rosanna Arquette), who's onboard with their quick cash grab idea. "The Moment" is about Charli trying to reconcile what could be good for business, viewership, and followership, and what's in her heart.

Despite most viewers, myself included, not having the first clue about knowing what it takes to manage and market a music performing artist, we can believe director Aidan Zamiri's capturing of this arena is fairly accurate, probably because the screenplay by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes, from an idea by Charli herself, isn't centered around making this world a target as much as an object worth unpacking from a human interest perspective. It sets out to debunk the idea that the life of an artist such as Charli XCX is necessarily a fun or easy one. In reality, the film argues, it can be a grind, one that's physically and mentally taxing, emotionally lonely, and hollow in that sometimes nothing substantial or of any real value is being done, not to mention there are a lot of people simply sitting around, scrolling their phones, not knowing why they're there or what their job is, which can be depressing.

This isn't meant to paint "The Moment" as a downer but rather point out that it hits us on human and social levels we weren't expecting. The film prioritizes authenticity over sentimentality or humor, and Charli gives us a sympathetic conduit into her unique world. Her voice, eyes, and the way she carries herself reveal a woman who's exhausted, irritable, reactionary, and perhaps even a little resentful of her own success. The sadness and pain she feels when she can't sleep, the insults she bears from an herbalist, and the passive-aggressive accusations she absorbs from an influencer, are just some of the scenes that ring of truth, and whether or not she was a real person, Charli’s character is one who is flawed and wounded, and our hope is that she finds absolution.

The other actors strike the same level of conviction and dimension. Alexander Skarsgård is droll and vexing as the passive-aggressive concert film director Johannes Godwin, who slowly (and likely intentionally) collapses Charli's inner circle to see his vision through. Johannes is a guy you love to hate, and yet you can't help but laugh at and, in a twisted way, admire his antics. Brazen and self-assured, he clearly only pretends to hear others' input, and when it comes to outside communication, he flips his nose and says things such as, "I don't do emails." He reminded me of Robert Moses, the polarizing urban planner who believed that so long as he started a project, the "powers that be" would have to let him finish it, which is how Johannes operates.

Johannes' strategies clash deeply with Charli's longtime creative director Celeste (Hailey Gates), who finds herself outmatched when Charli takes an impromptu vacation to Ibiza, a trip she figured would relax her but in fact makes her more vulnerable and short-fused when she's reminded that the tendrils of fame follow you to all corners of the world and that checking out even for a day can be costly because suddenly long-term decisions are being made without you. Celeste desperately needs Charli to step up to help her battle Johannes, but pressure mounts, and in a heartbreaking scene, Celeste finds herself being relegated as one of those people lingering around, with nothing to do.

The messages evoked by "The Moment" may be obvious, not least the notion that the drive for making money taints creativity (the use of The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" is a little too on the nose when it comes to representing this), but that doesn't make them any less effective. The toil and repetitiveness that go into upholding our image in the 2020s—an era of constant screen time; deadlines; the pressure to take selfies; feeling like we're not being heard or informed despite have loads of information at our fingertips; Zoom calls; creative and professional differences; not getting enough sleep; feeling like our personal and professional lives have fused together; etc.—can sometimes feel like a giant tractor tire rolling over us, and we must try our best to place ourselves inside the void between the lugs so that we can safely get back up and walk away relatively unscathed. What's useful and refreshing about "The Moment" is that it doesn't necessarily offer a solution to Charli XCX’s dilemma; instead, it reminds us that when we step wrong (and we will step wrong) while trying to keep so many plates spinning, we can still hope that those on the receiving end of our missteps will forgive us and that we can forgive ourselves.