A24's Buzzy Charli XCX Mockumentary Debuts With Disappointing Rotten Tomatoes Score

1 week ago 16

Charli XCX posing at Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2025-2026

Published Jan 24, 2026, 3:05 PM EST

Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.

Despite the buzz surrounding Charli XCX's new mockumentary The Moment, it is struggling to hit a high note on Rotten Tomatoes.

Charli XCX plays a fictionalized version of herself in the film, in which she prepares for her first tour as a headlining performer. A24 is distributing the movie directed by Aidan Zamiri in his feature-length directorial debut, and features a script co-written by Zamiri and Bertie Brandes. The cast also includes Rosanna Arquette, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Alexander Skarsgård, Rachel Sennott, and Kylie Jenner.

After debuting at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, The Moment has a Rotten Tomatoes critics' score of 60%. This is based on 10 reviews so far and will likely fluctuate as more are added. 60% is the review aggregation site's lowest score that is still considered "Fresh." There is no audience score yet.

In ScreenRant's The Moment review, Gregory Nussen declares that the film "is an unmitigated disaster" and that "The whole film is uncomfortably situated between wanting to skewer the very world Charli has helped to create and sincerely unmask the human behind a movement."

For Variety's review, Owen Gleiberman took issue with the movie's format, arguing that "This is not how an effective mockumentary works. I actually think 'The Moment' should have pushed further into crackpot satirical extremes." Richard Lawson at The Hollywood Reporter notes that the target audience may be too narrow since "you maybe have to be fully on board with the Charli xcx circus to really appreciate what a movie about it is trying to do."

While all the aforementioned reviews give The Moment a "Rotten" score, Glenn Garner gives it a "Fresh" rating in his review for Deadline, explaining that "What fans got instead of the oversaturated music doc genre the film so deliciously satirizes, is a spiritual sequel to Spice World (1997) as a psychological thriller." Another fresh review comes from Gregory Ellwod at The Playlist, who asserts that "in the end, it delivers. Because, love it or hate it, this film will linger with you."

Charli XCX speaking to someone in The Moment

From Everything Everywhere All at Once to Marty Supreme, many A24 movies have found extensive critical and commercial success in recent years. Based on the early reviews, The Moment will not be following in their footsteps since it is already proving to be divisive and resonating with more of a niche audience.

That being said, A24 has gradually risen to prominence largely because of its unconventional movies. The studio has embraced stories about the multiverse, a relentlessly determined table tennis player, and a one-inch shell in Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Compared to these films and many of A24's other offerings, The Moment's premise seems more traditional, with the execution being more of the issue for the critics who have seen it so far.

Following a limited theatrical release beginning on January 30, The Moment has the opportunity to be better-received by general audiences, especially among those who are fans of Charli XCX's music.