A heavy psychological drama disguised as fast-paced comedy
It’s hard to take in a movie like The Moment without knowing the context surrounding it. It’s a faux-documentary about Charli XCX’s first-ever arena tour, which followed the surprise success of her 8th record, brat. Prior to brat, Charli’s only top 10 hits in the US came very early in her career, and she did not receive top billing, despite being the primary writer on both “I Love It” and “Fancy.” In the 10+ years since these massive songs hit the mainstream, Charli has largely remained in a “cult icon” status, producing underground club bangers that united LGBT club kids and indie rock hipsters, but she never really reached the massive stature she seemed primed for. She *thought* she had it figured out with 2022’s Crash. But even her attempt to construct a perfect pop record fell short of the goal, and brat was the response to that–a messy, noisy, emotionally complex affair that was expected to bomb.
Instead, the emotional honesty and directness of the record struck a chord with pretty much anyone who gave it time. After 15 years of struggle, Charli XCX is suddenly a pop star, but it was such a vulnerable record that brought her there. This is where The Moment comes in. This film, at its core, is about the impact of laying your deepest, most complex emotions bare to the world.
The choices made in the film were interesting. Charli XCX’s music is rarely heard in the film, aside from a few short snippets to move the plot. The film has been advertised as a comedy, and it’s genuinely funny. But, similar to how the jokes in Airplane! underscore the fact that the lead character is managing severe PTSD and doesn’t feel like he deserves to be taken seriously, most of the humor seems to be pointed directly at Charli. Examples include: a sequence where a superfan gets hired to work on Charli’s film crew and simply stares and smiles, Rachel Sennott having a passive-aggressive argument about her work in the “360” video, all while both refusing and doing copious amounts of cocaine, and Kylie Jenner fawning over Charli after an absolutely brutal facial. Each joke pushes Charli to question her judgment and confidence, and a little further into the obsessive perfectionism of living up to other people’s vision of her, ESPECIALLY when different people’s visions conflict.
Holy shit.
There was a moment when the whole movie clicked for me, just after the Kylie Jenner scene: this is a movie about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. It never names it. And Charli’s OCD isn’t about doing things perfectly. It’s making sure you do everything people ask of you so you don’t fail. It means haphazardly posting paid posts without asking questions or making sure they’re above board because you know you had to. And then I started quietly crying. Is this the message they were intending for the film? No idea. But it was for me.
The Moment is not a movie for everyone. It’s chaotic. There is a lot of strobe. There are many extreme close-ups. There isn’t a real emotional release, just intensity. But it’s a heavy movie that seems to be going for Josie & The Pussycats, but is really a weird fusion of Airplane! and Richard Hell’s 1980 film Blank Generation. Aside from Charli, who is always a captivating presence, and the cameos, the real star turn in the film is Hailey Gates. She plays Celeste, the producer of the brat arena tour, who manages to be the only bit of emotional stability amid the chaos. The most disappointing? Alexander Skarsgard as Johannes, the filmmaker who decides to take over the vision for the stage show to make it look “better on TV.” He essentially watched the aforementioned Josie & The Pussycats and decided to play the role Parker Posey played in that film.
I loved The Moment. Will you? Maybe. But it isn’t a movie made for everyone. It’s a cult movie. It will live on forever. Hardcore fans will be rewatching it and quoting it for years to come. I can’t wait to watch it again. And I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to watch it with me.
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The Moment is playing in limited theaters now, and opens nationwide Friday, February 6th
