The Moment, Charli XCX’s meta, brat-era inspired mockumentary delves into XCX’s experience of navigating the fame and capital that came from her Grammy Award-winning album Brat. The film operates as a warning: what could have happened if she had allowed the industry to mould her, losing control of her album and her sanity.
Charli plays a heightened satirical version of herself, a role which demands acting craft and experience (both of which Charli does not seem to have). Among a stacked cast including Alexander Skarsgård, Jamie Demetriou, Rachel Sennott, and a surprising debut from Kylie Jenner, XCX’s acting falls short.
The film is a directorial debut from Aidan Zamiri, the Scottish director and photographer known for his music videos and ad campaigns, notably Timothée Chalamet’s wonderfully bizarre Marty Supreme endeavours. The film at points felt like an ad campaign, weaving you between an experimental mockumentary and music video. Although it was intriguing, it didn’t always feel suited for the big screens, with documentary-style graphics, which were visually painful at such scale.
The camera work was one of the film’s few wins, with its own character and personality (and at times invasive) it would follow the characters through meetings, into hotel rooms and perch in the back seat of Charli’s car. The visuals were beautiful and although there was a lot amiss, I will wholeheartedly look forward to Zamiri’s next film!
Yes, there were cigarettes, yes there were strappy white tops, yes there was dry British humour. Yet I was left wondering how much of the irony would land with someone who doesn’t know much about Charli. Would they find it a little self-indulgent? Charli’s final monologue certainly felt so. Was this all just catharsis for an artist with so much power she can turn her journal entries into films? Perhaps, and maybe this is the whole point, I will leave it up to you to decide.
Illustration by Lauren Tooze (@laurentoozeillustration) for The Student.
