Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment brilliantly reimagines Charli XCX’s “Brat” album taking over the world and crushing its creator under its own massive success.
Director: Aidan Zamiri
Genre: Mockumentary, Drama, Comedy, Psychological Thriller
Run Time: 103′
Rated: R
U.S. Release: January 30, 2026 (limited); February 6, 2026 (wide)
U.K. & Ireland Release: February 20, 2026
Where to Watch: In theaters
If you ask Charli XCX how her sixth studio album “Brat“ captivated the entire world and claimed its own summer, she’d tell you it just sort of happened. However, if you look at how she handled this chapter of her career, you’d understand its success was because of her unyielding loyalty to the creative direction she laid out for this album. Never compromising, nor altering herself to fit commercial aesthetics, she redefined the way in which artists and labels tried to take control of their creative identities.
When Charli promoted this new record in real life, she seemed to be the picture of cool confidence, handling the incessant questioning of “What’s next?” with a self-assured ease. In Aidan Zamiri’s debut feature, The Moment, both Zamiri and Charli reimagine a world in which this question isn’t so easily answered and “Brat” summer slips away from Charli’s grasp to become something completely unrecognizable. While The Moment may pitch itself as a campy mockumentary detailing the absurdity of virality and pressures of the music industry, labelling the film so plainly undervalues the hard-hitting, contemplative message at the film’s core, dealing with identity and staying true to yourself.
The Moment serves as a fictional look behind the rampant rise in fame Charli XCX experiences due to the “Brat” album becoming an unexpected cultural phenomenon. The film opens up in the midst of “Brat” summer. No matter what news channel, talk show or radio station is on, everyone is talking about “Brat“. While Charli XCX (playing a fictitious version of herself) has the number one album in the world and is getting one unbelievable opportunity after the next, the question on the mind of everyone around her is, “How do we keep this thing going?”.
Under the ginormous pressure of all this hype, Charli finds herself battling to protect her own sense of ownership over her identity. Her creative partner, Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates of Marty Supreme), seems to be the only person who understands and wants to carry out their version of what the “Brat“ arena tour should be, while her label is pushing one bizarre obligation after another on her to capitalize on this epic moment in her career.
When the label insists on creating a tour documentary to capture the “Brat” phenomenon, they insist on hiring Johannes Godwin (Alexander Skarsgård, of Pillion), a sketchy yet allegedly prolific director. As Charli’s team gathers outside of London to rehearse for the “Brat” tour that is only a month away, Johannes and the label begin to test the leniency of Charli and Celeste’s creative vision in favor of commercial and capitalistic appeal. Amidst all the pressure to keep this moment of success going forever, Charli begins to falter and doubt her vision for the tour.
Much like the “Brat” album, while The Moment has its sweaty and pulsating party moments, its depth comes from the unique and brutal vulnerability of Charli grappling with her identity within the music space. She knows she’s not a cookie-cutter pop star, and while abandoning the feeling she needs to be is what brought her success, she comes to realize she has no idea where the path she’s forged for herself is supposed to lead.
In one of the funniest scenes of the film, Kylie Jenner (playing a fictitious version of herself in a truly fantastic comedic turn) tells her that the second she feels like people are getting sick of her, she needs to ramp her exposure all the way up. While The Moment highlights Charli becoming the center of pop culture in the summer of 2024, it expertly deconstructs and reevaluates the glamour we associate with being an “It Girl”.
The Moment’s version of Charli is not easy to root for. She’s stressed out, brash and trying to hold on to something that’s already clearly beyond her grasp. Even though to the outside she looks like she’s having the most fun out of anyone on earth, she’s falling apart trying to keep herself and her vision alive. She wants to stay true to her creative identity, but with opportunities presenting themselves that she’s only ever dreamed of, how is she supposed to navigate these decisions without the incessant outside voices overpowering her own?
With The Moment, Aidan Zamiri, a long-time collaborator of Charli XCX, creates something that’s never quite been done before. His film feels like the final creative stretch of “Brat“’s legacy in a way that truly encapsulates what this moment in pop culture was all about. It was a party, it was chaotic, it was funny, it was unrelenting, it was vulnerable, but above all else, it was unabashedly itself, which is why it was so successful. Everyone has been wondering how and if “Brat” summer would ever end, and Zamiri’s The Moment serves as an intentional and introspective last call to this era.
The Moment (2026): Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
After captivating the world with her hit album, “Brat“, Charli XCX prepares for a summer arena tour while trying to keep her creative vision for the show entact admiss pressure from outside forces.
Pros:
- The Moment perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the “Brat” album in a way that honors its legacy rather than fights tooth and nail to preserve it.
- Charli XCX delivers a raw and vulnerable turn as a fictitious version of herself suffocating under the weight of her own success.
- It analyzes fame, particularly for a female popstar, in an introspective and truly unique way.
Cons:
- I wish the film had leaned into its comedic, avant-garde moments with more force.
The Moment is now available to watch in select U.S. theaters. The film will be released nationwide in US theatres on February 6, 2026, and in UK and Irish cinemas on February 20.