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OTwo Editor Alice Keegan considers Charli XCX’s upcoming switch to cinema with her upcoming mockumentary, The Moment.
Charli XCX’s upcoming hyperpop mockumentary The Moment is set to be released on the 30th of January. The film, produced through her own company Studio365, backed by A24, the independent film company powerhouse, is directed by Aidan Zamiri, written by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes.
Christened a “2024 period piece”, it features a star-studded cast, with everyone from Alexander Skarsgard to Kylie Jenner making an appearance. Covering the BRAT era and ensuing tour, it is a typically Charli-esque take on traditional pop star concert films and tour documentaries. The Grammy winning mastermind behind BRAT Summer provides us with a window into the operation of the music industry, in particular how subcultures grapple with intrusive concerns relating to commercial success.
It showcases a fictionalised Charli navigating the complexities of fame in the aftermath of her album BRAT’s release. It provides a satirical look at stardom and an insight into the industry. Above all else, this film is concerned with the concept of “cool”. In the trailer, the artist laments the pressures of appearing “cool” at all times, the fear of fading into obscurity, and anxieties relating to exhausting the BRAT era. Charli even asks “don’t you think having a BRAT summer forever is a bit cringe?” Her writing in songs such as ‘Sympathy is a knife’ and ‘I think about it all the time’ have previously indicated that the BRAT era hasn’t been quite the drug-fuelled, 24/7 party the music would have us believe, but this film gives us even more of a glimpse into one of the most storied moments in pop culture this decade thus far.
Her writing in songs such as ‘Sympathy is a knife’ and ‘I think about it all the time’ have previously indicated that the BRAT era hasn’t been quite the drug-fuelled, 24/7 party the music would have us believe, but this film gives us even more of a glimpse into one of the most storied moments in pop culture this decade thus far.
Charli explored these concerns in her December 2025 Substack piece, titled “The death of cool”. It centred around the concept of “cool” and in discussing the pressures attached to promotion (both self-inflicted and from outside sources), this essay incited intense discourse. The confessional piece was labelled “vapid”, overly self-centred and self-indulgent while simultaneously lacking self-awareness. Her harshest critics called her conceited, another pop star wishing to remain relevant, in whatever way that is required. “Many have questioned that in light of this overwhelmingly negative response, which situates the songstress as concerned only with her own experiences, environments and friends, do we really need to watch a mockumentary based on as Charli put it herself, “the hell version of herself”?”
While I personally wouldn’t go that far, it is a fair question; is Charli just taking it all a bit too seriously? True, there are much, much bigger things worth worrying about, and the essay definitely lacks nuance. For a self-described “365 partygirl”, Charli seems to be obsessed with image. This is something she has explored in her music and essays such as ‘The realities of being a pop star’. You can’t really blame her if this is the case, either. Both how they are (mis)interpreted and, frustratingly, oversaturation are fears that female celebrities must always be aware of. Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence were all victims of the latter’s particular style of 2010s misogyny.
She also raises fair points about the commercialisation of music, and her personal uneasiness with it. She considers how the advent of internet culture and the issue of mass exposure has confronted and enmeshed with underground and avant garde scenes. She underscores that dismissing commerciality entirely is inherently elitist, referring to this as “a distinctly art school type energy”. However, she also acknowledges that there are valid concerns about the infiltration of mass production and so acquiesces that she enjoys the “in-between space”. With these themes set to be central to The Moment, maybe Charli’s thesis will become clearer with its release.
Charli XCX is (and has been for a while) the moment, but the question that seems to live permanently in her mind is, for how long? Cinema offers new opportunities for a musician who by all accounts has reached the apex of her career – there’s really no topping the lighting-in-a-bottle phenomenon that was the BRAT era. Branching out into even classic literature, February will see the release of Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights which will feature new music from Charli. The artist remains adamant that with her move into movies she plans on “disappearing”. This film might not just be the album's (and album cycle’s) swansong, but the beginning of a new era for Charli XCX.