MOMENT, THE
(director: Aidan Zamiri; screenwriters: Bertie Brandes, Charli XCX; cinematographers: Sean Price Williams, Molly Manning Walker; editor: Neal Farmer, Bill Sneddon; music: A.G. Cook; cast: Alexander Skarsgard (Johannes), Rachel Sennott (Rachel Sennott), Isaac Powell (Lloyd), Francesca Faridany (TV News Anchor), Charli XCX (Charli XCX), Jamie Demetriou (Tim), Errol Barnett (Errol Barnett), Rosanna Arquette (Tammy), Kate Berlant (Molly), Hailey Gates (Celeste), Arielle Dombasle (Maria), Kylie Jenner (Kylie Jenner); Runtime: 103; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Charli XCX; A24; 2026-UK/USA)
“When it tries to be smart it’s dumb.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Scottish 29-year-old music video director Aidan Zamiri is the first-time director of this uneven satiric comedy that’s filmed as a mockumentary. It’s about the joys and pains of celebrity. Bertie Brandes and the film’s star Charli XCX write the screenplay. When it goes completely off the rails the film works just fine, but when it tries to be smart it’s dumb.
Brit pop singer Charli XCX plays a fictionalized version of herself getting ready to go on a world-wide tour to promote her hit album “Brat,” that was released in June of 2024. The songs are supposedly about her flaws and big ego.
When the asshole Swedish director Johannes (Alexander Skarsgard), brought on by corporate sponsors to film the tour and keep it family friendly, orders her to clean up her image, she lets him have it. He objects to her doing a song about ‘cocaine,’ as he tries to curtail her artistic urges to make the film safe to sell her to the corporate sponsors.
One of the film’s funnier bits is Charli endorsing a new credit card only for young queers.
But the narrative is shallow and its characters are superficial, and it says nothing about celebrity or pop culture that matters. What it does is put forth a story about an industry dominated by flatterers and back-stabbers and a diva having a meltdown.
Charli’s personal creative director Celeste (Hailey Gates) and Johannes battle it out as to who will control how the Charli film will be made. Her ‘yes’ man manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou) grovels before her, while the pushy record executive Tammy (Rosanna Arquette) only acts so that the studio profits as much as possible over the star.
Zamiri’s content to ask questions that don’t get too many good responses. The film’s downfall is that it’s an absurd story about a pop star dealing with fame that becomes a boring story about the insecurity of a pop star.
It played at the Sundance Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 2/5/2026 GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com