Charli xcx’s ‘Moment’ Will Last ‘forever’

A pyrrhic victory is defined as “a victory that is not worth winning because so much is lost to achieve it.” In other words, the empty, confusing isolation that comes after getting everything you’ve ever wanted. It was famously the key theme of William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy “Julius Caesar,” and most recently, Charli xcx’s tour mockumentary, “The Moment.”

The film, shot to look like a documentary, follows the singer in preparation for her 2024 “SWEAT Arena Tour” as she grapples with the immense pressure of becoming what she’d spent her whole life dreaming of becoming — an A-list pop star. The result is one of the most raw and fascinating glimpses behind the curtain of fame ever put to screen.

When this dream will end haunts Charli throughout the film, driving her to extreme attempts to extend her time in the spotlight. 

“I know it’s not chic to be the last person at the party,” she says in a voice memo to an alienated friend in the film’s emotional climax. “But I hate going home.”

Navigating this uncertainty, Charli in “The Moment” is torn between two sides of herself, one wanting to maintain her creative vision that got her this far, and the other wondering how much further she could go and what she’d give up to get there.  

These sides are personified by the roles of creative director Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates, representing Charli’s real-life creative director Imogene Strauss) and fictional documentarian Johannes, (Alexander Skarsgård) who’s sent by Charli’s label, Atlantic Records, to create a tour film financed by Amazon.

The thematic angel and devil (Caesar and Cassius, if you will) weighing on Charli’s shoulders are the two strongest performances in the film. Gates’ (“Challengers,” “Marty Supreme”) dry humor and restrained melancholy compel the audience to her side, while Skarsgård’s (“True Blood,” “Succession”)  kooky antics make for the smoothest —and funniest — acting of the bunch.

Charli, placed in a Brutus-esque position, is presented with this Faustian bargain between herself and who she could be. Her relative newness to acting shows, somewhat painfully, in the first half of the film, where her attempts to come off as stressed and overwhelmed just make her look mean and detached. 

In the more emotional second half, however, she shines. While the dialogue and scenes might be contrived, her sentiments clearly aren’t. Watching her personal catharsis is uncomfortably realistic at times, at once heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. 

Charli not shying away this uncomfortable sadness carries the film. Themes rarely addressed by pop stars — gender, age, consumerism — all play on her mind. When she goes to a spa and is told her skin has “0% elasticity,” she breaks down. The constant reminders of her age and gender propel her into the more extreme manners of extending her fame, chipping away at her confidence and urging her to give in to Johannes’ vision of making herself another product.

The shadow of consumerism darkens the film, as brand names flash during transitions, and Charli navigates compromise with companies calling her left and right. She partners with a bank to make a “brat” credit card, is forced to placate Amazon and Atlantic, has to record ads and make Instagram posts, all eroding her authenticity. At its core, the film is Charli wrestling with the question of whether fame means losing yourself.

Ever the meta and honest artist, these existential crises are questions Charli has been honest about through the “brat” era. “I don’t know who I am if it’s over???” flashed on the screen towards the end of her 2025 headlining Coachella performance. “I just want this moment to last forever… PLEASE DON’T LET IT BE OVER.”

Whether “The Moment” itself is another attempt to extend the relevancy of “brat,” or finally “kill it,” as she and Celeste fantasize about during the film, is up to the audience. With more soundtracks and acting gigs on the horizon, Charli’s moment appears here to stay.  

“The Moment” is in theaters now.