Many people think being a pop star is all about glitz, glamour, and dollar signs, but that’s not the case. It takes an incredible amount of fortitude to live the life of an artist on the rise. There is no privacy; every word you say is suspect, and touring isn’t what it used to be. If you’re not careful, being a pop star could put you in an early grave, which is what Chali xcx is hoping to avoid in the trailer for her A24 mockumentary The Moment.
In The Moment, a rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
Directed by Aidan Zamiri, the film is based on an original idea by Charli xcx, who leads a cast that also includes Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, Rachel Sennott, and Alexander Skarsgård.
While the film is not entirely autobiographical, Charli xcx has hinted that the mockumentary is a biting industry satire that reflects her own experiences. “It’s fiction, but it’s the realest depiction of the music industry that I’ve ever seen,” she said in an October interview with Vanity Fair.
In the seizure-inducing trailer for The Moment, Charli xcx endures the life of a rising pop star, which comes part and parcel with an incredible amount of pressure, expectations, and pitfalls. Whether Charli’s self-conscious about a new dance move, apprehensive about the lighting of her multi-million dollar stage show, or surviving interactions with adoring fans, there’s seemingly no end to the barrage of presumptive gestures and unspoken duties of a pop princess.
The Moment marks the feature directorial debut of Aidan Zamiri, a veteran music video and commercial director behind Charli XCX’s “360” video and Billie Eilish’s video for “Birds of a Feather.” The Moment trailer is almost giving me This is Spinal Tap vibes, given how many things go wrong for Charli, as well as the overwhelming amount of miscalculations occurring on her tour. The mannequin crashing to its death from the ceiling strikes me as a real “Stonehenge” moment.
The Moment opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, January 30.
