At Sundance, Charli xcx opens up about reshaping “Brat” into a satirical film and shares her honest reaction to Ariana Grande’s Oscar snub.
Charli xcx isn’t interested in playing it safe — and her latest move proves it.
Ahead of the Sundance Film Festival premiere of The Moment, the pop star revealed she walked away from a more conventional tour documentary to create something sharper, stranger and more personal.
Rather than extending the life of her wildly successful Brat album for industry reasons, Charli wanted to challenge the format. The result is The Moment, a concert mockumentary that blends performance with satire and self-reflection.
The film follows a fictionalized version of Charli as she plans an ambitious tour, while poking fun at fame, pop culture and the music machine itself.
“I wasn’t interested in making something that felt like promotion,” Charli shared during her appearance at the Variety Studio presented by Audible.
Instead, she leaned into storytelling that explores what happens when deeply personal art is released into the world — and instantly consumed, branded and reshaped.
The film is directed by Aidan Zamiri, a close collaborator who also worked on Charli’s “360” music video. Zamiri said the project captures the tension between creative purity and mass success, especially as Brat became the biggest moment of Charli’s career.
The Moment features an eclectic cast including Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Rachel Sennott and Alexander Skarsgård.
Some actors play exaggerated versions of themselves, while others portray fictionalized members of Charli’s real-life team — adding to the film’s playful, meta tone.
Charli’s Sundance appearance also touched on awards season. Known for her love of film and viral Letterboxd reviews, the singer reacted with surprise when told Ariana Grande was not nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Wicked: For Good.
Grande and Charli recently collaborated on a remix of “Sympathy Is a Knife.”
“Oh, Ari! She is amazing,” Charli said. “She goes full force.” While she admitted she hadn’t been following the nominations closely, the snub caught her off guard.
The Moment premieres at Sundance before opening in theaters on January 30 — marking yet another chapter in Charli xcx’s ever-evolving creative world, where pop music, film and fearless ideas collide.
PHOTO CREDIT: Charli xcx/Instagram
