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Charli xcx plays herself in “The Moment,” a meta-documentary about the end of Brat’s summer and his struggle with otherworldly success.
“I really wanted to tell this story about anticipation,” Charli xcx told The Associated Press the day after “The Moment” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The 33-year-old pop star hails from Essex She has been involved in the music industry since she was 16, and she describes her career trajectory as anything but smooth sailing. Then, in 2024, she peaked as a pop culture phenomenon with her sixth studio album, Brat. Finally, she said, she felt understood for a moment. Then, just as quickly, things changed.
“People really associated me with this kind of character, and then people had a lot of expectations of me as a person, as an artist, of who I was supposed to be at that time. And I didn’t fit that narrative,” she said. “I finally felt understood. And then I felt like I wasn’t understood anymore.”
Making something extremely popular and resonant can be a double-edged sword for an artist working in the corporate world, who would sometimes rather milk a “sure thing” forever than allow someone to evolve and move on. She found herself wanting to address that tension, the existential conundrum she had experienced.
Charli xcx likes “Meta Moments”
A straightforward documentary didn’t seem like the right thing to do, so she and 30-year-old Aidan Zamiri Scot Photographer and music video director, moved on to other things, something more authentic to them. “The Moment” is a little bit “This is Spinal Tap,” a little bit “Black Swan,” a little meta, with people like Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennott playing themselves, a little fun, a little wild. This is a high degree, but it is also true.
“I’m not going to lie, there’s definitely some crossover,” she said. “I didn’t make the choices that Charlie made in the movie, but I certainly came close. … It’s a very accurate depiction of my experience in the music industry.”
One of the most popular shows among celebrities A24 The film will hit theaters sooner than most: It will open in New York and Los Angeles on January 30, with a wide release on February 6.
In The Moment, Charli xcx faces pressure as Brat summer comes to an end and must AmazonAlexander Skarsgård plays a sleazy director she didn’t choose, pushing Brat credit cards and conforming to what music executives want from her. She couldn’t sleep either and was getting increasingly tired from everything.
Zamiri, who directed her “360” music video and became one of her best friends, was excited about the challenge and directed his first feature film. He also intrinsically understood what she was going through.
“It’s a battle of expectations, people want one thing from you, and you feel this pressure to stick with it, to keep delivering that thing, for fear that if they don’t like the next thing, the attention and excitement for you might waver,” Zamiri said. “I love the process of making something. But part of it, which is often very exciting but also weird, is sharing it with the world because then it doesn’t belong to you anymore… It becomes its own thing, and I think we saw that with Brat What happens in real time.”
Bringing movies to movie fans
As with the “Brat” album and everything she does, Charli xcx was closely involved in the marketing and promotion of the film.
“I love marketing, I really do,” she said. “I think there’s an interesting gap between a filmmaker’s vision and marketing. It’s really cool to work with A24, and they’re determined to bridge that gap. I mean, come on, like, ‘Marty Supreme’? It’s very well done.”
Her favorite part, though, has always been the creative process, so making a movie about that was especially meaningful, she says, “even though I’m an absolute crazy (expletive).”
As The Moment comes to theaters, there’s a palpable energy surrounding it. Charli xcx made sure some fans actually got into the premiere, not just industry insiders and those who could afford expensive festival passes. Later, many people celebrated at a DJ party until the early hours of the morning.
“I love all the fans who want to wear sunglasses and crop tops,” Zamiri said. “I have a feeling they’re going to attend this event like it’s a concert. It’s the coolest thing ever.”
Actor Charli xcx’s unofficial coronation
The Sundance Film Festival was a coronation of sorts for actor Charli These aren’t her first on-screen appearances, but they do showcase her vision and her ability to make a film even if she’s playing a version of herself.
This is also a big moment for Charli xcx personally. She is a self-professed cinephile and has a not-so-secret Letterboxd account where she has logged 1,357 movies to date. In her recent review of “Paddington 2,” she wrote, “Paddington 2 lives up to expectations.” Her four favorite works are Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread,” David Cronenberg’s “Maps to the Stars,” Jacques Rivette’s “Céline and Julie Go Boating” and Abel Ferreira’s “Addiction.”
Now fully integrated into the filmmaking industry, she says, “it’s like everything else and more.” She also produced a companion concept album to Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights.
“I was really kind of hungry to learn more and more about, you know, every part of the film industry: making movies, being in movies. I was so hungry,” she said. “I feel very lucky to be able to be a part of the films I’ve been a part of so far. I mean, working with Aidan? Working with Greg Araki? Shooting a (expletive) scene with Natalie Portman? What did I want (expect)?”
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For more coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival