Brat sells.

Directed by Aiden Zamiri, The Moment follows Charli xcx (playing herself) as she rides the massive wave of success from her Brat album. With an arena tour on the horizon, xcx begins the process of building the next chapter of her career as she tries to create a show that taps into her messaging. At the same time, the studio heads at Atlantic wants to create a concert video, inspiring them to hire pretentious director Johannes Godwin (Alexander Skarsgard) to lead the charge. But Godwin’s vision conflicts with xcx and her team, leading to a battle for power with her career on the line.

Truthfully, there’s a lot to like about this Moment. Charli xcx and Zamiri have crafted a mockumentary satire that feels like an honest inquest into the temptations (and trappings) of success. Set in the days following xcx’s blow-up, Momentcaptures the tension between musical artistry and the business side of the industry. Having found her definitive calling card in the form of ‘brat’ life, the pop superstar is invited to keep the good times rolling well past the proverbial summer.

But, in order to do so, xcx may have to sell the soul of the movement that she created. For a song about free will and empowerment, the ability to capitalize upon its success means becoming part of the very system that brat sought to upend. For her, brat was a moment where she left her mark. But, to the executives that control her life, they believe that it’s – as the title suggests – THE moment. The one that defines everything from a marketing standpoint. Simply put, the studio believes that Charli needs to level up. And ‘brat’ is her opportunity to do so. This sort of tension leads to an existential upheaval within the artist, forcing her to decide who she wants to be and who she needs to be to build her career.

Using the mockumentary set-up, Zamiri and xcx work hard to blur the lines between reality and fiction. For casual fans (like myself), there are moments where you genuinely wonder whether what’s playing out before us is truthful (or, at the very least, whether or not it’s based on truth). With the camera upon her, xcx does a wonderful job making us believe that every grating publicist, direction and studio interference is slowly pushing her over the edge. Since the release of her album, xcx believes that she and her team had a vision for what the tour and ‘brat movement’ could be. And every compromise for the sake of grander success feels like a betrayal to what she wants to say.

Even so, xcx has met her match in a deliciously ethereal performance by Skarsgard. As Johannes, Skarsgard is a wild mix of humility and male dominance. Brought in by the studio to lead the tour film, Skarsgard slithers himself into a position to exert power with prayer hands extended and a softness in his voice that feels almost likable. In these moments, Johannes undercuts and manipulates the women leading the charge, slowly taking the reins to ‘fix’ the brand messaging to make ‘brat’ more palatable to the masses. It’s a fascinating performance that highlights the subtly of masculine arrogance in the face of strong feminine authority.

In many ways, Moment is smart, savvy and often quite funny. But still… something seems… off to me about this moment.

Now, I’m not without self-awareness here. While I very much enjoy her music and, frankly, the film as well, I fully admit that critical analysis stems from someone who isn’t the target audience of xcx’s Moment. However, knowing this, I would also argue that the messaging of Moment may get lost in the medium.

This is solid mockumentary filmmaking but, somehow, feels like it betrays itself. By putting herself on blast (as the kids say), xcx still feels like she keeps her true feelings about the system at distance from the audience. It’s important to remember that xcx is certainly playing a hyper-fictionalized version of herself and career trajectory. Even so, without giving away too many spoilers, if this is really a film about the next chapter of her journey, Moment doesn’t really tell us much about who she really wants to be. (In fact, it kind of reminds us of the need to succumb to the system in order to build a career.)

This may be Charli xcx onscreen but it isn’t really. And it kinda still is… so, what does she want us to know?

As a result, for some, the film’s finale will feel the authentic expression of an artist caught in the machine. For others though, it could also leave fans wanting. But maybe that’s the point of the endeavour. Maybe The Moment’s satirical edge is best served with a side eye of sadness. Either way, it’s an expression of a young woman lost within an oppressive corporate engine that knows what sells. But whether or not she finds her way may reveal just how ‘brat’ she truly is.

The Moment is available in select theatres on Friday, February 6th and goes wide on February 13th, 2026.