Charli XCX’s The Moment – More than Just Another Concert Film

To close out the first month of 2026, Charli XCX is hopping off the stage and onto the big screen. 

Arriving in theatres on Jan. 30, her personal film project, The Moment, is not your traditional pop-star-produced film. Rather, it is a world entirely of her own making, a fictionalized account of her rapid return to the spotlight with the album “brat.” 

What is “brat”?

Charli XCX performs at the BP Pulse Live arena in Birmingham, UK, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Credit: Henry Redcliffe.

While Charli rose to fame in the early 2010s, with hits such as “Boom Clap” and Icona Pop’s “I Love It”, she faded into obscurity, still releasing music but never finding her way onto those same pop stations she once dominated.

Released on June 7, 2024, “brat” became a career-defining moment for Charli. The critically acclaimed electronic dance-pop album became a major cultural phenomenon. It received nine Grammy nominations in 2024 and took home three. The album was the highest-rated on Metacritic in 2024, with a near-perfect score of 95, and is the 15th-highest-rated album on Metacritic of all time.

Neon green text posts using the font found on its album cover flooded every corner of the internet. It even infiltrated the presidential election; Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ social media team drew the attention of Gen Z crowds after changing to a “brat”-inspired header on X, formerly known as Twitter, reading “kamala hq.”

Reliving The Moment

The Moment, a mockumentary film centred around a pop star navigating fame and preparing for her first arena tour, is a fictionalized version of Charli’s resurgence. The film is distributed by A24, the company behind Moonlight and Everything Everywhere All At Once and produced by Aidan Zamiri.

It boasts a star-studded cast, including Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood), Rachel Sennott (Bottoms) and even Kylie Jenner, who is making her acting debut in The Moment.

It’s not an “inside look” at the making of the BRAT tour; it’s a mockumentary. For those unfamiliar with the genre, think of hit shows like The Office or Abbott Elementary.

For some, this may take away the authenticity of the experience. However, it doesn’t seem like an hour-and-45-minutes of Charli performing and racking up revenue, but rather an overview of the good and bad that come with success.

With virality comes the incessant push to do more, to make as much money as possible while the trend remains relevant. Some say “brat” summer was too stretched out, but judging by the trailer, The Moment might have something to say about that.

How does The Moment differ from other musician films?

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour concert at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, Aug 9 2023. Credit: Paolo Villanueva via Wikimedia Commons

When thinking of musicians who have come out with movies, there are two genres that come to mind: concert films and documentaries. There’s Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, a hybrid musical/documentary film, as well as Swift’s 2020 documentary Miss Americana. Lady Gaga has Gaga: Five Foot Two and Gaga Chromatica Ball, another documentary and concert film.

Then there’s Stop Making Sense, the Talking Heads concert film that’s hailed as the greatest concert film of all time, with a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.7/10 on IMDb. Similarly, there’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which is arguably a strong contender for second place (definitely not in the eyes of the critics, but in the eyes of pop culture impact).

While musicians have certainly made names for themselves in the film industry (Gaga has since gone on to play lead roles in A Star Is Born and Joker 2: Folie à Deux), there’s a stark difference between acting as a character and producing a film centred around your own life and career.

After making waves in the industry by bringing her rave-inspired, EDM sound to the top of the charts, Charli XCX is now redefining the format of concert films as we know it, branching off from the typical genres and creating something that is uniquely her own.

Charli’s approach is what sets her apart so drastically. It would have been much easier for her to have taken the documentary route, having a camera crew film the ins and outs of the phenomenon, or even to have just done a baseline concert film. But for Charli, this simply wasn’t enough.

To cover the “brat” phenomenon is to cover it fully, from beginning to end. Putting in the extra time to cast and script a satirical, fictional project about the demanding nature of pop stardom and the pressure to create the “perfect tour documentary” is telling of Charli’s value as an artist.

Rather than succumbing to the wants of her team, Charli prioritized her own creative input, releasing something that seems more representative of her personal experience than her label’s.

Beyond the Moment

This sets a precedent for upcoming artists to not let their label decide their every move, to not let their work be diminished into nothing more than an easy cash-grab. It encourages artists to prioritize their own creative liberty and make things they want to be making, not what others want or tell them to make.

Not only that, but the outpour of support and excitement for the film can even impact the way the artist’s team views concert films. The film has not been released, but if it makes enough at the box office, their management may be more open to exploring different genres in future films.

Moving forward, pop stars could take a page or two out of Charli’s book. Concert films and documentaries aren’t the only option. Embrace creativity and reject commercialism.