“The Moment”: Brat Summer Gone Wrong

When Charli xcx released her 2022 album, “Crash,” she described it as her “major label sell-out.” It was an attempt at a ‘what-if I were a pop star’ before the deadline for a label contract with Atlantic Records, which she had previously written off due to creative differences. “The Moment,” Charli’s latest film, is based on that idea, an abstract commentary on the pressures of pop-stardom. 

“The Moment,” based on an original idea by Charli herself–directed and written by Aidan Zamari and Bertite Brandes–settles as a concert-thriller film mockumentary that unravels in real time. Largely fictional, its basis isn’t: Essentially, Charli lands in situations she hadn’t before, as she went from cult classic to cultural icon, noted by the presidential campaign and absurd bratification of everything. 

Immediately, we’re thrown back in September 2024 at the peak of Brat’s success as the world swallows it whole. Greeted by the satirized Charli xcx and her posse, brand opportunities emerge with the intention of capitalizing on the Brat craze, as does her label (Atlantic Records). She begins working closely with a close friend and creative director, Celeste (Hailey Gates), for the visual design of the upcoming tour to grasp onto what little creative control Charli has left. Yet, the rights to a “Brat” concert film have been sold to Amazon. Insert Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), a director who aims to sanitize Charli’s original vision as creative differences stem.

Elsewhere, a declining bank, “Howard Sterling,” buys into the “Brat” aesthetic with a credit card “aimed at young queer people,” in an effort to successfully rebrand. This is where authenticity is duly questioned– exploitation at the expense of artistic integrity–when something becomes bigger than you, rather a victim of success.

Evidently, the film is relatively opposed to the usual PR-scripted concert-film documentaries, in which the singer faces a struggle and makes a comeback. In “The Moment,” it’s oddly more complex below the memes and unseriousness of it all, despite its satirized nature. If anyone has listened to “Brat” in close detail knows there’s genuine vulnerability behind Charli’s cool-girl bravado. Its film companion is nothing short of it.

Cinematographically, the film mirrors Charli’s psyche: chaotic cams as if it were a paparazzi video, anxious confinement around the subject, contrast among the high-energy performances and intimate moments behind the curtain. Thanks to Zamari’s direction of Charli’s music videos, “360” and “Guess,” the line between reality and fiction is blurred. These scenes, accompanied by producer A.G. Cook’s score, give way to energetic sequences when needed and vulnerable moments when Charli appears alone. It’s hard to tell how much of the film imitates Charli’s real life, but watching Charli spiral feels uncomfortable but humanly real. 

Interestingly, Charli posted ‘that TikTok’ about wrestling with the tension of “oversaturation” and “staying too long.” This soon materialized the core of “The Moment,” where she takes the subsequent–motivated by an unusually good cameo from Kylie Jenner, who plays a heightened variation of herself. In the scene she appears in, a flustered Charli runs into Jenner in Ibiza, who flatters her on “leveling up” on the success of the record and collaboration with Johannes, who’s an arbiter of filmmaking in this world. Charli then vents: “Some people have been telling me to slow down… Maybe even disappear,” Jenner retorts, “the second people are getting sick of you, that’s when you have to go even harder.” Charli comes back to the chaotic tour set and gives in with hopes that ‘bigger might be better. And so, she actually “sells out.” 

While the camera is not pointed in Charli’s face, Johannes, played by Skarsgård, is the real star of the show. His performance as the ‘pretentious’ filmmaker is so convincing that he completely melts into the role with hilarious fatuity in every scene. The attention to detail is worth mentioning as well. Much of the music from “Brat” is absent (unfortunately), and Johannes, being a “concert filmmaker,” doesn’t mention any music, considering the premise of the film. Those little subtleties really add to its charm. 

The most compelling part lies in the bookends of “The Moment.” We watch “Brat” dissolve and become disjointed far from its intended vision, joined by The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” in a dramatic montage. Charli surrenders the tour to capitalization, as ‘her moment’ flees into obscurity disguised as a bastardized “Brat Live!” Yet, Charli finds herself rid of the dread that’s plaguing her, holding onto the rush. Though the film doesn’t necessarily dive into the importance of “Brat,” it didn’t need to. It was a “you had to be there” moment to really understand. 

It’s interesting to see a film like this about the ebbs and flows that come with being a pop star or a cultural fixture. In today’s period, it means choosing capitalist ventures over artistic vision. It’s clear from the beginning of the film that Charli is unhappy being at the summit of fame and with the way “Brat” is being sold to the public, than what she originally envisioned as a record that’s “inherently [her] me.” In the real world, it’s an odd but fascinating way to end the era that defined most of our lives in soundtrack in 2024.

Charli had confirmed it herself in an interview with Variety, stating, “For me it’s over, and you can’t dread the end when it’s over.” 

“The Moment” may not have been the happiest of endings to conclude “Brat.” It’s a risk by pop star standards. It stands as a sort of living document of the era that captures a very particular feeling, which Charli perhaps felt behind the scenes. If so, the film did well at depicting it. As an official goodbye statement, it’s effective and the most ‘Charli thing’ to do, even if it’s hard to let go. 

But like Johannes said, “Brat summer forever.”