The Moment Review

This reappraisal is based connected a screening from the Sundance Film Festival. The Moment volition beryllium released connected January 30.

From first-time diagnostic movie manager Aidan Zamiri – known for his euphony videos with Charli XCX – The Moment captures the fictitious aftermath of the British popular singer’s monumental occurrence successful 2024 with her smash-hit album, Brat. The movie has an alluring vigor and galore wryly comic moments arsenic it circles the malformed question of what comes adjacent for the euphony megastar with an anxiousness that fuels its aesthetic approach. The resultant communicative is 1 of a personage fearing her ain oversaturation – a amazingly susceptible and self-critical starting point. Unfortunately, contempt its occasional strengths, The Moment ironically overstays its welcome.

Brat Summer, with its now-iconic neon green, was everyplace each astatine once, a rocket vessel to stardom that The Moment recaps via quality montage for anyone unfamiliar. Once fans and outsiders alike are up to speed, galore cameras travel XCX and her entourage successful adjacent quarters successful the weeks starring up to her Brat circuit successful 2025, and the fictionalized originative skirmishes therein. It’s a mockumentary lone successful the astir method sense; i.e., its characters admit the cameras erstwhile oregon twice. However, the movie is overmuch amended served if thought of arsenic a straightforward play changeable with a handheld, voyeuristic gaze, oregon other you mightiness spell huffy trying to fig retired the logistics of each camera’s placement, and the “how” and “why” of it each (to accidental thing of its deficiency of sit-down interviews). Either way, its raison d'etre is farcical astatine first, which is erstwhile the movie is astatine its strongest. When it pivots towards much saccharine themes, told done accepted melodrama successful its closing act, it’s overmuch harder to stomach.

Early into the 103-minute runtime, it’s hard to shingle the consciousness that Zamiri and XCX mightiness beryllium fans of the Safdie Brothers and Enter The Void manager Gaspar Noé, whose respective claustrophobic conversations and strobing on-screen captions are deployed arsenic superior tools. The movie’s texture is unrelenting, though its contented seldom lives up. It takes a portion for its awkward rhythms to yet settle, but aft the umpteenth montage that establishes – oregon alternatively re-establishes – the premise, we’re disconnected to the races. Boardroom executives marque decisions connected XCX’s behalf without her input, portion her hilariously straitlaced manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou) tries to speech her into harebrained promotional schemes, including a ripped-from-Twitter gag astir a Brat-themed queer recognition card. It’s each wonderfully silly, and it comes wrapped successful the chaos of XCX being ushered betwixt events astir London practically against her will.

The adust wit à la The Office (the UK original, that is) serves Zamiri’s benignant to a tee, portion XCX slips effortlessly into a frayed and haggard mentation of herself, bringing her inmost insecurities to the aboveground amidst scenes of partying done the night. It’s a fantastic show showcase astatine times, granting melodramatic detours to supporting characters similar XCX’s person and originative director, Celeste (Safdie regular Hailey Benton Gates), whose nightclub imaginativeness for the circuit is challenged by the ludicrous, faux-polite performance movie director, Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård). A statement hire, Johannes is hell-bent connected sanding down the popular star’s image, making it much colorful and family-friendly, which leads to immoderate comical butting of heads.

XCX slips effortlessly into a frayed and haggard mentation of herself, bringing her inmost insecurities to the surface.“

Celebrities amusement up successful spades – Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennott play exaggerated versions of themselves – truthful the verisimilitude of the task is ne'er successful question. Unfortunately, what remains questionable is its creator constituent of view. In a oversea of caricatures, XCX is practically the lone three-dimensional quality being, a idiosyncratic battling for bureau portion warring disconnected hordes of idiots astatine each turn. It verges connected misanthropic, particularly erstwhile she really meets her fans; the intelligence wellness struggles of 1 of them are made the butt of an particularly cruel joke. On the 1 hand, it’s commendable to spot XCX – connected whose thought the movie was based – fto the aerial retired of her ain personage representation successful the signifier of cinema; connected the other hand, the effect often feels similar a distasteful enactment of marque management, contempt its insistence that beneath each the glitz and glamor, XCX is yet human. She’s not too human, though; don’t forget, she’s inactive a originative genius, arsenic The Moment insists, truthful immoderate compromises she makes successful a authorities of distress are secretly a five-dimensional chess scheme. If you tin get connected committee with that conclusion, great; you’ve drunk the lime greenish Kool-Aid.

Zamiri’s ocular attack whitethorn beryllium a patchwork of different filmmakers, but successful the astir superficial sense, helium knows precisely who to propulsion from, adjacent if it doesn’t ever cohere. The movie’s usage of colour is besides remarkable, from the aggravated high-contrast and saturated palette that gives adjacent the astir luxurious spaces a grungy sensation, to the usage of greenish successful the colour timing to induce a sickly consciousness arsenic the movie goes on, à la The Matrix oregon a Saw sequel. It’s arsenic though XCX were being psychologically consumed, and adjacent harmed, by her ain success.

The ocular pieces are each there; unfortunately, The Moment seldom assembles them successful ways that marque affectional sense. Important beats that specify XCX’s quality and originative trajectory consciousness wholly skipped, and captious accusation concerning a large third-act crook is presented successful specified an opaque manner that the communicative becomes confounding. Eventually, it zips guardant to an exhausting bid of explanatory melodramatic monologues to adjacent things out, which neither gel with the preceding movie nor service XCX’s talents arsenic a comedic actress. This zigzag ensures that The Moment ends connected a bummer enactment erstwhile it ought to beryllium astatine its astir satirically sure-footed. It’s not unspeakable by immoderate stretch, but you wouldn’t beryllium blamed for questioning the constituent of it each erstwhile the credits yet roll.