With its combination of dance club-pop and surprising emotional vulnerability, Brat<\/em> shook the world of pop culture even beyond the music industry, as the album\u2019s lime-green color and minimalist artwork became a cultural staple all the way up to the release of Charli\u2019s mockumentary film, The Moment<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the story was conceptualized by Charli \u2013 I mean, it was<\/em> based off of her experience touring and promoting her album \u2013 The Moment<\/em>\u2019s visuals and vibes largely come from music video director Aidan Zamiri in his feature directorial debut. A frequent collaborator with modern artists like FKA Twigs, Billie Eilish, Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet and, of course, Charli, Zamiri brings the intensity and artistry for which he has made a name for himself over the past 7 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing I noticed about Zamiri\u2019s creative choices was the very<\/em> clear inspiration from Argentine filmmaker Gaspar No\u00e9 \u2013 particularly No\u00e9\u2019s 2019 film, Lux <\/em>\u00c6terna<\/em>. I\u2019m personally biased because No\u00e9 is my favorite filmmaker of all time, but the use of intense, strobing lights in the credits sequences\/establishing text immediately stood out to me and told me I was in for a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly to Lux<\/em> <\/em>\u00c6terna, The Moment<\/em> focuses on the behind-the-scenes of performance art with themes about the treatment of women in the industry, mixing candid and artistic camerawork to enhance certain scenes. For example, the opening sequence of The Moment <\/em>is a quick-cutting, flashing dance sequence that really has no narrative purpose beyond setting the tone of the movie and stressing the viewer out, while the majority of the film afterwards follows Charli in an almost found-footage style, candidly presenting the stresses of her life that come as a result of her massive success. This reminded me greatly of the cinematography in No\u00e9\u2019s film, although the visually affronting strobing sequence is saved for the end in that one, serving as a final climactic sequence after the candid look at the backstage lives of actresses in a play about witchcraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides filmmaking influences, the influence of Charli\u2019s life as a pop star who has had multiple experiences skyrocketing into fame is incredibly clear. Instead of telling the story about the tumults of fame from a strictly narrative perspective \u2013 I\u2019m thinking of films like A Star Is Born<\/em> and Boogie Nights<\/em> \u2013 or making a concert tour movie like Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour<\/em>, The Moment<\/em> focuses bluntly on the lightly-fictionalized life of Charli and the emotional distress that she and her team go through as they struggle to continue the success of her album\/tour. Her personal understanding of fleeting fame and the impossibility of living a normal life in the midst of it is delivered to the audience through the storytelling of her performance more so than the narrative itself, as she masterfully communicates through her character\u2019s emotions that feel almost too real at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>Before I get to talking about what I believe the true underlying theme of the film to be, let me first talk about The Moment<\/em>\u2019s discussion of gender and artistic interference that is centered in the characterization of the film\u2019s primary antagonist, Johannes Godwin (played by Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd). As Charli\u2019s fictional Amazon Prime concert film is being produced under her and her teams\u2019 creative direction, Johannes, the director of said concert film, slowly steals the creative reins of the production as Charli emotionally spirals under the weight of her success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is Johannes\u2019 character a comment on men in the creative industry infantilizing and wresting artistic control from women, he is the personification of creative interference that big-budget studios and talentless executives exert over the talented minds that create their shared financial opportunities in the first place. As Johannes entirely changes the tone and unique vibe of Charli\u2019s production in a darkly humorous fashion \u2013 such as forcefully changing the flashing and provocative stage setting displaying uncensored words like \u201cCUNT\u201d and \u201cPUSSY\u201d to a visually unflattering censored display of the word \u201cB#TCH\u201d without discussing the decision with the creative team \u2013 he actively undermines Charli and her autonomy over her brand and artistry. This enforces a washed out, \u201cfamily-friendly\u201d image onto the production under the guise of bringing in more viewership, eventually having the exact opposite effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it\u2019s played for comedy a lot of the time, his character\u2019s actions are not unrealistic; the story of men taking credit for and\/or otherwise undermining women\u2019s successes in the creative industry (especially the music industry) is nothing new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The true underlying theme of the film, however, is found in its stark portrayal of the emotional weight of expectation. As Charli\u2019s artistic vision has become fully realized and monetized, the success that she had strived for and dreamed of puts enormous pressure upon her because of her fans\u2019 and executives\/agents\u2019 constantly rising expectations, leading her into an emotional spiral. Her physical and mental health fall away in importance as she strives to do the best she can for her fans, her co-workers, and her own artistic integrity, constantly fighting a battle she has been set up to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The question of whether to end her titular \u201cmoment\u201d or ride it until it dies is the true central conflict of the film, and the answer given in the movie\u2019s climax\/resolution is simultaneously saddening, relieving, frustrating, and even retaliatory, as it also takes a stab at Charli\u2019s real-life ongoing beef with rival pop-star Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/strong>For context in understanding the recent developments in the Taylor\/Charli beef, the last word before The Moment <\/em>dropped was in Swift\u2019s track \u201cActually Romantic\u201d off her newest album, The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>, in which she sang, \u201cI heard you call me \u2018Boring Barbie\u2019 when the coke\u2019s got you brave.\u201d While this itself was in retaliation to Charli\u2019s emotional vulnerability on Brat<\/em>\u2019s \u201cSympathy is a knife\u201d (which is, coincidentally, my favorite track on the album), in which she sings \u201cThis one girl taps my insecurities \/ Don\u2019t know if it\u2019s real or if I\u2019m spiraling,\u201d Swift\u2019s most recent diss clearly sparked inspiration for the ending of The Moment<\/em>. Spoiler warning for the rest of this section, in case you\u2019re planning to see the movie for yourself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the film\u2019s conclusion, Johannes has completely redesigned Charli\u2019s concert film into his terrible artistic image, and Charli, deciding to give up on the success of \u201cBrat summer\u201d and to let the moment die, agrees to perform the show as he wants it. It\u2019s a choice that comes from her decision to put her mental health first over giving in to the weight of the expectations placed on her, and my reaction as a viewer was all of the things I mentioned at the end of the last section; it was hard to see Johannes win, but it was also good to see her put herself first, even when it meant losing her battle with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where it comes to dissing Taylor Swift, however, is how the final scene is shot: it\u2019s clearly<\/em> riffing off of Disney+\u2019s promotion of Swift\u2019s Eras Tour <\/em>film. While it was a frustrating ending, especially considering the intensity of the opening dance sequence at the beginning of the film and its hint at an even more intense climactic sequence later on, the bait-and-switch ending is a risky chance to diss Swift back that really pays off for the underlying themes of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It shows how disheartening it is for Charli to be forced to give in to Johannes\u2019 vision, and how disappointing it would be for her to sell out to the \u201cfamily-friendly\u201d performance like the one given in Swift\u2019s PG-13-rated concert film. While I didn\u2019t really like it at first, I\u2019ve grown to really appreciate this ending, as it portrays the consequences that come with her choosing to put herself first; it\u2019s disappointing for us, but it\u2019s what\u2019s best for her \u2013 and it disses Swift back without needing to actually address her or the beef directly. Chef\u2019s kiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once again, I\u2019m biased because of my love for Charli, my love for Gaspar No\u00e9\u2019s and Adrian Zamiri\u2019s artistic directions, and my disdain for Swift\u2019s last couple of albums\/her emotionally unintelligent disses towards Ms. XCX. Still, I absolutely loved The Moment<\/em> both as a stand-alone film and as a conclusion to \u201cBrat <\/em>summer\u201d as Charli moves on to her next project, her companion album to Emerald Fennell\u2019s \u201cWuthering Heights\u201d <\/em>film. I\u2019m beyond excited to see Charli continue her acting career after her honestly amazing performance in this movie, as she\u2019s set to appear in both the reboot of the controversial horror franchise Faces of Death<\/em> and famed horror director Takashi Miike\u2019s untitled upcoming film\u2026 also in the horror genre, naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While The Moment<\/em> can be a challenge to the viewer at times, that is exactly the type of art I like to see. With Charli\u2019s shift into acting and re-entry into pop culture\u2019s spotlight, I cannot wait to see what she does next \u2013 I truly believe she\u2019s one of the greatest artists in the popular sphere right now, and The Moment<\/em> is just further proof of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Moment<\/em> is available for purchase on Fandango At Home for $24.99. It’s in the stage between its theatrical run and its drop to streaming, but is expected to arrive HBO Max in the near future because of the subscription service’s recent deal with A24, the publisher for the film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Draven Copeland, Managing Editor Known for her alternative persona in the world of pop music, Charli XCX has recently skyrocketed into fame once again after previously finding popularity in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-5014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5014"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5108,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5014\/revisions\/5108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5014"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=5014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"TheMomentPoster\"](\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GS_A24_MOM_27x40_GREEN-TEASER_DIGI_FIN02_Sm-810x1200.webp\")
Art Imitates Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"CharliXCX\"](\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/TM_16x9_Teaser_Textless_2025-11-20-140627_acuf.webp\")
Understanding Theme Despite The Stress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"themomentanditsamovie\"](\"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/new-poster-for-a24s-mockumentary-the-moment-starring-charli-v0-lix1r150iigg1-810x1200.webp\")
The Moment\u2019s End<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What’s Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n