Concert films have become dependable box-office attractions — from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to Beyoncé’s Renaissance — and after Charli XCX’s 2024 breakthrough album Brat, studios approached her about a movie. Rather than make a straightforward concert film to extend album sales, Charli opted to upend the format.
The Moment, directed by Aidan Zamiri, is a mockumentary that skewers the concert-film genre and the commercial forces that shape pop careers. It premiered at the Berlinale and is now playing in theaters across Europe. Set in an alternate timeline, the film follows a fictionalized Charli who agrees to headline a concert movie designed to sustain her so-called ‘Brat Summer.’
Conflict fuels the plot: Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates), Charli’s friend and club-rooted creative director, clashes with Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), an auteur filmmaker known for hit concert pictures whose ego and heavy-handed decisions neuter Celeste’s rougher instincts. Johannes trims the show of abrasive elements — heavy strobes, blunt party references — even as the movie remains drenched in Charli’s hyperpop sound and party-girl visuals.
The Moment leans into satire with cameos from Rachel Sennott, Julia Fox and Kylie Jenner playing heightened versions of themselves, while Rosanna Arquette appears as a stereotypical record executive too distracted for details. Absurd promotional bits populate the storyline, including a fictional ‘Brat’ credit card pitched at queer fans. A24, which released the film, even sold a customizable Brat card as a novelty item; it is not a functioning bank card.
That credit-card subplot mirrors real-world pressures artists face to commercialize their work. Charli has collaborated with corporate partners in reality — she headlined an event tied to Revolut, the London fintech — and at the Berlinale press conference she described feeling a loss of artistic control as her audience exploded after Brat. Once a fringe pop figure with a devoted, largely gay following, she said widening popularity brought gratitude alongside new complications.
Born Charlotte Emma Aitchison in 1992, Charli self-funded her first album at 14 and uploaded songs to Myspace in 2008. Discovered by an East London rave promoter, she played warehouse parties and steadily released albums, with Brat marking her biggest commercial breakthrough. The album even spilled into American politics in 2024 when Charli posted ‘kamala IS brat’ on X after Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee; the post drew millions of views and Harris leaned into the meme, adopting Brat-inspired visuals for her campaign. Charli later described the post as lighthearted rather than an official endorsement, while reaffirming her support for democracy and women’s rights.
The Moment intentionally avoids that accidental political moment. Its creators chose to lampoon the music industry’s appetite for commodification — a theme that feels timeless and less polarizing than direct political commentary — though that narrower focus also sidesteps more urgent public issues.
Edited by Cristina Burack