I have a great deal of respect for Charli XCX; she was among the few performers who came right out and encouraged fans in 2024 not to re-elect the monster currently occupying the White House. Of course, goodwill only goes so far, and while I continue to respect Charli for giving Orange Hitler the finger, I cannot help but wonder what the pop star was thinking with respect to her recent mockumentary, The Moment.
First, lemme ask: What was “The Moment,” exactly? Did I miss it? Maybe Charli XCX could try a different moment; this one isn’t working. And, um, excuse me, but aren’t mockumentaries supposed to be, you know, funny?
In an attempt to revive the underrated genre “mockumentary,” popstar Charli XCX let cameras follow her for days and days of preparation leading up to her 2024 Brat tour. The outrageous demands of musical popularity itself combined with the hyperbole of elitist egos and insular worldview was all intended to mimic the comedy classic This Is Spinal Tap. Fellas … you didn’t even get up to Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.
One of the big problems here is that our heroine, Charli XCX is intended to come across as one of us, the voice of normal who just happens to be part of this madcap rock ‘n’ roll world. However, quite fittingly, Charli comes off as a Brat. She doesn’t treat her loyalists and friends well, she has no idea what money is to others, and given a stressful situation, she chooses to hide in Ibiza, because, you know, we all have that choice when things get tough.
There are two key plot points in The Moment that run parallel with the overall preparation of the Brat tour: The first is the introduction of the Brat credit card – a useless piece of usury-inducing plastic that Charli shruggingly endorses long before realizing the people behind it are con artists. I might have found this funny if it were handled a bit better, but it seems pretty obvious from the introduction of a green square with the word “Brat” written on it, that VISA ain’t backin’ this thing.
The second plot revolves around the staging itself of the tour itself, which gets put in the hands of pretentious director “Johannes” (Alexander Skarsgård), whose “family friendly” and fairly meh art designs conflict with the vision of her friend and creative director, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates). This, too, was a plot that should have been re-written. The tension between Johannes and Celeste comes off as little more than awkward, although it is worth note that Alexander Skarsgård is the only one in this film who seems to understand the assignment. The object here is: don’t go over the top, but be just enough of a jerk so that the camera itself starts questioning you. This Is Spinal Tap had literally 
performances like that from everyone in the cast. The Moment had them from just Alexander Skarsgård and Arielle Dombasle as holistic makeover maven, Maria.
In the very least, I’d have liked to know more of Charli’s music. It was sadly stifled here, a huge loss for mockumentary filmmaking. How can we respect the artist if you won’t show us your work? This movie was a fail and I have no idea what the producers were thinking here; it would have been far better to simply film the Brat tour and document the performances for our enjoyment.
There once was a diva named Charli
Who showed us her life big and snarly
For her tour of Brat
She came off as that
And left me wishing I were watching “iCarly”
Rated R, 103 Minutes
Director: Aidan Zamiri
Writer: Aidan Zamiri, Bertie Brandes, Charli XCX
Genre: Movies that might have looked good on storyboards
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Charli XCX fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The rest of us
