There is something deeply satisfying about watching a pop star take control of their own myth. 'The Moment', the fake documentary built around Charli xcx, does exactly that.
It plays with fame, ego, internet culture and the machinery of pop stardom, all while winking at the audience.
At first glance, it looks like a classic behind-the-scenes music documentary. We see rehearsal footage, creative disagreements, studio sessions and emotional reflections. The camera lingers on tired eyes and tense meetings. There are dramatic pauses. There are intense close-ups. It feels familiar because we have all watched these documentaries before. But it quickly becomes clear that this is something else entirely.
Charli leans into the absurdity of the format. She exaggerates the tropes of the tortured pop visionary. The misunderstood genius. The perfectionist battling the system, but still craving approval and wanting to drag out the success of her 'moment' as long as possible, because none of the corporates around her has any faith that she can exist beyond 'brat summer'. It is satire, but it never feels mean-spirited. Instead, it feels playful and surprisingly honest.
Enter to win in-season tickets to 'The Moment'.
What makes 'The Moment' so effective is that it understands the modern pop ecosystem. Fame today is built in real time, online, under constant scrutiny. Artists are expected to be authentic while also performing authenticity. This mockumentary captures that tension perfectly. It asks, in a sly and entertaining way, what is real and what is performance. A mention of Joaquin Phoenix's faux doco 'I'm Still Here' cements the inside joke.
'The Moment' makes fun of the culture surrounding fame. Stressed, she flies to Ibiza, where she gets 7-star luxury treatment in exchange for a single tweet. She is whisked in to see a celebrated facialist – who normally has a years-long wait list – but is swiftly ejected when she pushes back against the wellness drivel the facialist espouses. Brilliantly, waiting outside for her own facial is Kylie Jenner, showing an endearing ability to poke fun at herself. She is posed as the perfect foil to Charli, luminous while Charli is frazzled, calmly career-focused while Charli is, for want of a better term, losing her sh.t.
Visually, the film nails the documentary aesthetic. Titles are in old school PC fonts and garish colours, flashing across the screen so fast it could give the audience vertigo – it all heightens the sense of stress and loss of control.
What really carries the project is Charli herself. While she doesn’t come across as an experienced actor, she commits fully to the bit. However, it is the cameos that really land. Alexander Skarsgård is brilliant as the faux zen music documentary filmmaker, brought in by corporate executives to document Charli’s tour. His character completely undermines Charli’s original project, changing the shade of her signature 'brat summer' green, and firing her collaborator, all while wearing Buddhist prayer beads and a tiny man bun. His assistant, a beautiful blonde woman, doesn’t say a single word to anyone throughout the whole film, merely smiling serenely as she does his bidding. His true nature is revealed at a corporate meeting at the end of the film, in a bitingly written scene.
In the end, 'The Moment' is less about exposing the industry and more about playing with it. It is confident, clever and deeply online in the best way. Charli xcx proves once again that she understands not just how to make pop music, but how to shape the story around it.
