Cert – 15, Run-time – 1 hour 43 minutes, Director – Aidan Zamiri
In the build-up to her Brat tour, Charli XCX (herself) becomes overwhelmed by expectations, brand deals and uncertainty over what Brat started out as and has become.
Living under a rock from almost all modern music means that ‘Brat Summer’ entirely passed me by. It’s evident from this alone that I am not the target audience for The Moment, a mockumentary following the smash-hit album’s creator Charli XCX (played by herself) preparing for the album’s tour. It perhaps also explains why for a good while I sat slightly at a distance, almost lost, from the film; feeling as if I was missing something that should be obvious.
This feeling dominated much of the opening stages of The Moment as it seemed to be trying to find its footing and where it wanted to focus. After eventually finding grounding in the rehearsals for the Brat tour the film successfully leans into XCX’s central performance as she becomes caught under the weight of expectations from multiple parties, and the world’s embracing of whatever ‘Brat’ has become. The mockumentary format may be barely used, in fact aside from mockumentary-style camerawork and one mention of the camera crew there’s nothing here that feels as if it fits into the style or sub-genre, but thankfully the lead performance is what brings an authenticity to the proceedings.
You can see the growing frustrations in the wake of brand deals, rehearsals being interrupted and changed by the concert film director (Alexander Skarsgård having fun with an amusingly tongue-in-cheek performance in completely contrast to his Pillion role), to the frustration of creative director Celeste (Hailey Benson Gates, quietly standing out alongside XCX), and flip-flopping manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou). Awkward encounters with various parties lead to a couple of scattered chuckles here and there. The Moment may not be a barrel of laughs, and I don’t think it’s trying to be, but it at least has a handful of amusing moments here and there once it finds its focus, to help see its run-time through that bit more easily.
Things don’t quite get caught between these attempts at humour and the more serious-toned beats concerning XCX’s own thoughts about what she wants of her album and music – the film, written by director Aidan Zamiri and Bertie Brandes from an idea and story by the artist. A monologue over the phone in the later stages of the film sum things up rather well, and in some ways bring them together. While there are patches that sit uncertainly, or that I, once again, felt slightly at a distance from, this one sequence properly confirmed and established what the film was going for in a direct way and it worked. The click may have happened a while before, but the sound of it comes through in this moment.
Perhaps much like this, and the character of Charli XCX wading through the sea of thoughts and opinions about her work and what it should be The Moment needs its point of realisation and almost being set free from its own shackles to find what it wants to be. Occasionally it can feel slightly side-tracked as Charli leaves rehearsals to go to a wellness retreat in Ibiza, although this eventually comes round and finds itself, but this feeling isn’t the same as the segmented nature of the build-up to rehearsals themselves. There’s still a slightly scattered feeling to the unfolding events, perhaps in part because of how many people are surrounding her with demands and wants at any one time, and not every scene has a clear push or drive. But, when the focus is on XCX and her performance in the wake of everything that’s being thrown at her, there’s an interesting click that helps to keep things going and bring a meaning, and perhaps end, to ‘Brat’, even for those who had no clue what it was beforehand.
A scattered mockumentary that doesn’t feel like a mockumentary, when focusing on XCX’s performance and her views on ‘Brat’ The Moment is at its most detailed and interesting. With some good chuckles added in, it should manage to work for complete outsiders as well as fans.
Just A Little Bit Random 