From Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” to Beyoncé’s “Renaissance,” concert films have become a major box-office draw. After Charli xcx became a cultural phenomenon with her 2024 album Brat, she was approached to make a concert movie—but she wanted to subvert the format rather than extend album sales.
The result is The Moment, a mockumentary directed by Aidan Zamiri that lampoons the concert-film genre and the commercial pressures behind it. The film premiered at the Berlinale and is now playing in theaters across Europe.
Set in an alternate timeline, The Moment follows a fictionalized Charli who agrees to star in a concert film meant to prolong her “Brat Summer.” Tension arises between Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates), Charli’s friend and creative director rooted in the club scene, and filmmaker Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), an auteur of hit concert movies who proves to be egotistical and domineering. Johannes strips out Celeste’s more abrasive elements—heavy strobe lights and explicit party references—while the mockumentary remains steeped in Charli’s signature hyperpop sound and party-girl aesthetics.
The film features cameos from Rachel Sennott, Julia Fox and Kylie Jenner as heightened versions of themselves, and Rosanna Arquette plays a record-executive archetype too busy for details. Absurd promotional stunts populate the storyline, including a fictional “Brat” credit card pitched to queer fans. A24, the studio behind The Moment, even released a customizable Brat card as a novelty item—though not a functioning bank card.
The credit-card subplot echoes real-world commercialization pressures artists face. Charli has worked with corporate brands in reality, including headlining an event tied to Revolut, the London fintech firm. At the Berlinale press conference she spoke about feeling a loss of control over her artistic vision as her audience widened following Brat. Once known as a fringe pop artist with a devoted, predominantly gay fanbase, she said gaining a broader audience brought gratitude mixed with difficulty.
Born Charlotte Emma Aitchison in 1992, Charli self-funded her first album at 14 and posted songs on Myspace in 2008. Discovered by an East London rave promoter, she performed at warehouse parties and has since released multiple studio albums, with Brat marking her biggest commercial breakthrough. The album even crossed into American politics in 2024 after Charli posted “kamala IS brat” on X when Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee; the post drew millions of views in hours. Harris leaned into the meme, adopting Brat-inspired visuals for her campaign. Charli later called her post lighthearted rather than a formal endorsement, while affirming her support for democracy and women’s rights.
The Moment deliberately avoids referencing Charli’s accidental political moment. The filmmakers chose to target the music industry’s greed—a more timeless, and less politically fraught, subject—though that focus steers clear of larger, more urgent issues of the day.
Edited by Cristina Burack
