Charli XCX is extending her Brat era into film with The Moment, a new mockumentary that just premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. Directed by longtime visual collaborator Aidan Zamiri from an idea Charli helped develop, the movie has her playing an exaggerated version of herself trying to wrap a never‑ending “Brat summer” while a record label, streaming partners and a tour‑film director push her to keep cashing in. The story drops her into late 2024, juggling a concert film for a tech giant, a Brat credit card, and mounting expectations as she gets more sleep‑deprived and anxious about what comes after a viral run.
Early reactions say the film works best as a pop‑industry satire anchored by Charli’s performance rather than a full‑on takedown of the business. Critics note that she leans into a heightened “nightmare Charli” persona—controlling, hyper‑aware of every detail, but clearly overwhelmed—and delivers a monologue about fame and burnout that several reviews describe as surprisingly moving. Alexander Skarsgård, Rosanna Arquette and Jamie Demetriou round out the ensemble as industry figures whose branding schemes and creative notes clash with Charli’s and her creative director’s attempts to move beyond the green‑tinted Brat aesthetic.
Coverage frames The Moment as both a capstone and a send‑off to the “Brat summer” that defined Charli’s last album cycle, giving her a chance to treat that era as material instead of just marketing. Reviewers note that while the commentary doesn’t always go as hard as it could, the mix of self‑deprecation, industry in‑jokes and emotional honesty positions Charli as a credible screen presence and keeps the film most appealing to fans who know her primarily from the music. For more detail on the first wave of responses out of Sundance, see Rotten Tomatoes’ round‑up of early reviews for The Moment.
