★★ (2 out of 4)
Is this the moment for Charli xcx? Or has her moment passed? That question nags at the heart of “The Moment,” a so-called “mockumentary” that debuted flatly at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival a week ago and opens in theaters today, leaving the answer blowing in a very Dylan-ish wind. The dance-pop construct that is Charli xcx, the UK singer and songwriter (dad’s from Scotland, mom from India) who was born 33 years ago as Charlotte Emma Aitchison, prefers to be unknowable. That’s especially true in this fictionalized portrait of her life.
How then do you craft a feature-length movie about this diva of deflection? With humor, of course, a dash of heartbreak and a mix of clever and clumsy that seems to be the default mode for writer-director Aidan Zamiri (He engineered Timotheé Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme” marketing takeover.), who fails to bring coherence out of the many biopic balls he’s tossing in the air. As it turns out, the film’s lack of confident cool is one of its more appealing attributes.
Against its own reason for being, ‘The Moment’ ends up exploiting the character it most wants to illuminate, leaving Charli xcx and her audience equally and unfairly shortchanged.
With the globe exploding, you may have missed the Charli xcx phenom. Like most overnight sensations, she’s been around for years, recording singles and mixtapes, hits for other artists (Iggy Azalea, Selena Gomez) and five studio albums that put her on the music map. It was 2024’s album #6, “Brat Summer,” that put Charli on the map of the world. Even if you never heard her music, you heard her name as “brat” became a defiant synonym for partying in the face of impending doom. I wasn’t thinking of Trump. You were.
“The Moment” is really about what Charli does for an encore. She wants something fresh and sharply fanged. The keepers of her fame want more of the same to line their pockets. Alexander Skarsgård has a spiky visual joke as Johannes, the “Zoolander” clueless director of Charli’s upcoming world tour, as he raises his arms, proclaiming, “Brat summer forever!”
Over Charli’s dead body, but the forces of compromise are lined up against her, from sniveling assistants (Trew Mullen and Isaac Powell) and a kiss-ass makeup artist (Kate Berlant) to the record label lady boss (Rosanna Arquette). They’re all too cartoonish to leave an impression, let alone teeth marks. Rachel Sennott plays herself as does Kylie Jenner, as if the movie really needs a Kardashian. It really doesn’t.
It needs more characters with a human touch, like creative head Celeste (the excellent Hailey Benton Gates), who provides a sounding board for Charli that brings out her vulnerability. In these unguarded moments, Charli shows her skill as an actor. She has supporting roles in two other films at Sundance this year, Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” and Cathy Yan's “The Gallerist,” but “The Moment” is the calling card that counts. And it’s a mixed bag.
There are things to recommend about “The Moment.” Its vibe, enhanced by the camera wizardry of Sean Price Williams and the pulsing throb of a score by frequent Charli collaborator AG Cook, feels authentic even when the script by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes keeps running hard and crashing into an impenetrable wall of clichés.
It’s Charli who pulls us back in. She puts up a good front selling her tour on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” but once off camera she hides behind her dark shades, sinking into the cringe celebrity she’s sure she’s becoming or already has become.
Props to Charli for showing the power she’s capable of when given the chance. What a shame that this misbegotten script gives her so few chances to dig deep into her own troubled psyche. Against its own reason for being, “The Moment” ends up exploiting the character it most wants to illuminate, leaving Charli xcx and her audience equally and unfairly shortchanged.