Charli XCX captured the internet zeitgeist in the summer of 2024 with her ultraviral album “Brat.” That time period, affectionately dubbed “brat summer,” saw the star reach new levels of mainstream fame, far surpassing her previous works. “Brat” more than tripled the streaming numbers of her second-most-streamed album, 2015’s “Sucker.”
But it’s been nearly two years since brat summer, and fans are wondering what comes next for the hyperpop darling. Before starting her next chapter, she said a bittersweet goodbye to neon green with her new movie, “The Moment.”
Set in September 2024, “The Moment” follows Charli XCX, played by herself, as she attempts to make a concert film of her amazingly successful “Brat Tour.” Conflict ensues as Charli’s record label hires clueless director Johannes Godwin, played by actor Alexander Skarsgård, to film the project.
Skarsgård delivers a fantastic comedic performance as Godwin. He perfectly captures the trope of a man who wants to be in the arts but seems to have no artistic vision.
He’s a caricature of every man who has ever read Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act” and felt they suddenly had a superior viewpoint to those who have dedicated their lives to the craft. His outfits are laid-back, but laid-back in the way Mark Zuckerberg wears a hoodie and a chain. They’re a costume made to give the facade of someone who’s down-to-earth and creative.
The contrast between how Charli’s creative team and the record label’s creative team perceive the titular “moment” is the center of their conflict. To Charli’s team, capturing a moment is rewarding, but once it has passed, it’s time to find the next one: “We’ll just make another record.”
But to the record label, “the moment” is something that needs to be extended as long as possible. They would rather make “Brat 2” and then “Brat: The Prequel.” To the corporate executives, music is a product — and “Brat” is their bestseller.
The corporatization of counterculture is another theme throughout the movie.
Godwin wants to tone down Charli’s brash and flashy style, swapping strobe lights for LED wristbands and cocaine references for cigarettes, in an attempt to make the film more “family-friendly.” Charli’s creative director, Celeste, played by Hailey Gates, points out his efforts are absurd considering a large amount of the album features drug use.
Nevertheless, Godwin is so steadfast in his convictions on what will sell well that he ignores everyone associated with the original project. He’s scared of Brat’s loud aesthetic, so much so that he wants to desaturate the album’s iconic slime green. He wants the appearance of being edgy, but he doesn’t actually want the edge that could potentially scare viewers away.
While “Brat” is an album centered around partying — and lots of it — a crucial factor in its critical success was Charli XCX’s ability to be vulnerable on the record. Tracks like “Sympathy is a knife” and “I think about it all the time” offer an introspective foil to the hardcore party anthems present on the album, and this ability to look inward is reflected in her movie as well.
She shows an impressive level of bravery to paint herself in such a flawed way in her own film. At a certain point in the story, Charli could arguably be the villain. These moments of selfishness, arrogance and insecurity help sell the pressures of what comes after a career high and how those pressures can transform someone.
While the movie functions as a great sendoff to the brat era, I do have a couple of issues with it. The final act of the movie feels a little rushed, pulling back to an earlier scene to artificially create tension where it could’ve been created within the plot’s events.
Additionally, Charli XCX recently starred in a Super Bowl commercial for Poppi, featuring the aesthetics and music of “Brat.” If this movie was meant to be a final page in the chapter, releasing a brand deal with a soda company two days after the movie’s global release seems to be almost the antithesis of what the film was trying to say.
Overall, “The Moment” serves as both a comedic critique of corporate media culture and a goodbye to the pop star's most iconic era to date. Fans of the artist and those unfamiliar with the album can both find something to enjoy in this film.
Contact Christopher Rodriguez at crodriguez@alligator.org. Follow him on X @ChrisRodri29386.
