The Moment (2026)
I don’t know much about pop star Charli XCX. Admittedly, I’m not the target demographic for Brat Summer and my relationship with Charli’s music is acquaintance like at best, with a few songs popping up in my shuffle from time to time. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed The Moment (2026). I was a little worried going into the film that it would suffer from the same problems that plagued Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025), another film about a real life pop star playing a fictionalized version of their persona. I am happy to report that my fears were unfounded, and that I walked away from The Moment with a surprising sense of catharsis and appreciation for Charli XCX as both a music artist and actress.
Brat Summer, Forever
In our world, the allegedly real world, Charli XCX made a pop album called Brat (stylized as brat). The album was an unexpected success that went beyond the typical hit singles, merch, and tour cycle and gave rise to a cultural moment: the Brat Summer. The film takes place in an alternate reality at some point between the middle and the end of this unexpected moment of success in Charli’s career. Corporations are still trying to cash in on the Brat Summer moment and find ways to make it last. Charli finds herself caught in the middle as she is increasingly commodified and expected to co-sign everybody’s vision of for Brat Summer with little regard for Charli or her vision as the creator.
The center of the film’s drama is a concert film that Amazon is funding. Charli and her creative director Celeste (Hailey Gates) have a vision for the concert and tour, one that involves flashing lights and drug references. The film’s director Johannes (Alexander Skarsgard), appointed by Amazon, feels differently about the film. His vision is much more PG. He wants to make the Brat concert film into a family friendly experience. No flashing lights, no drug references. But, there is a giant prop lighter, and its functional!
As the film progresses, Charli begins to unravel from the stress surrounding the film and Brat Summer as an increasingly corporate construct. Her relationships are strained, her health suffers, and a financial institution is forced into bankruptcy because of a well meaning but legally unsound social media post. But, these are all just setbacks for corporate giant Amazon. In the end, Charli gives in to the whims of her corporate sponsors and Amazon gets the concert film it wanted.
Brat Summer is Over?
That sounds like a downer ending, doesn’t it? Artistic vision and integrity being diluted for the sake of corporate profitability certainly feels like a bad ending. In the larger battle of art as authentic expression and corporate product, Charli’s Amazon concert film may very well be a win for big business. But the ending isn’t framed in this context. Instead, it is a personal matter. One of the final scenes flashes between Charli recording a voicemail, Celeste listening to the voicemail, and Charli preparing to the take the stage for Johannes’ film. Charli expresses her competing fears about the end of the Brat moment, and her frustration over what it is becoming. But Charli is at peace with her decision to move forward with the film. Maybe its selling out, that is for the fans and critics to argue over. For Charli, its about accepting Brat for what it was and letting go. She already made the album and has influenced culture in a way few ever get to do, however fleeting that moment may be. Charli has decided to stop trying to control the moment and, instead, enjoy the last few weeks of Brat Summer.
Hotel for Ghosts 