The Moment Review: A neat yet prolonged satire of the music industry

I walked into The Moment without knowing anything about its genre or plot. For some reason, the name made me think it was a thriller or something. I know, I was being stupid. Anyway, once I was a few minutes in and learned it was a mockumentary about the musical industry through the eyes of a musical artist that I'm not all that familiar with, I was a little worried I wouldn't enjoy the film, even as a musician myself. And while I still wouldn't say the film was made for me at all, I found myself having a much better time than I expected. Today, I, Brighton Nelson, will be diving into the good, the bad, and the wacky of The Moment in this Reel Ranker review.

As with most Reel Ranker reviews, I'll start with the negative and save the best for last, mis amigos. My negatives with this film may have been compounded by the fact that this wasn't as much a film for me, so bear that in mind. My biggest negative with the film is that its runtime was a bit too long. I think trimming 10-15 minutes in the middle, with some of the spa stuff and her going out of town and all that, would've benefited the film. Maybe trimming a couple of minutes from the beginning of the film would've helped it hook me and keep my attention longer. I'm not saying this to sound like I'm part of the TikTok generation; I'm just saying this because, sometimes, less is more, and brevity can make a film really strong in a lot of cases.

My other main negative with the film is that it feels like, by the end, the film wraps up with Charli xcx getting a sort of character arc and acceptance of what's going on around her; however, it didn't feel like the film was at all building toward said character arc throughout most of its runtime. While it was a neat little ending, it felt a little unearned and untelegraphed.

My only mixed opinion on the film is that it is quite funny, but not in a laugh-out-loud kind of way. While I don't think that's a negative, it was just an interesting aspect I wanted to note. It's one of those rare films that does that for me, and I really appreciated its quirky tone.

There are many positives to this film as well. Charli xcx and Alexander Skarsgård were incredible in their roles. Their performances were easily the best part of the film! While I'm not invested in the brat album because I've never listened to it, as a musician myself, I was invested in the journey of her not getting to play out her vision. The ending was also awesome, with her still being successful when she didn't get her way, showing that sometimes a single person's vision isn't what the masses want. That was a realistic ending that felt true to real life.

My second favorite element of the film had to be seeing the whole journey and the inner workings of the music industry's chaos. All of that was really interesting to see play out. A lot of those moments were really relatable for me, as I've had concerts that felt like that too. If I were more of a Charli xcx fan and her music style, I could imagine this film being a fantastic love letter to her fanbase.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 58%
Letter Score: C+
Star Ranking: 3 out of 5

The Moment is an interesting mockumentary that provides a unique look into the world of famous musical artists through a dramatized story of Charli xcx's life without requiring you to be a fan of her work. While it meanders a lot in the middle and doesn't do the best job of displaying Charli's character arc, it's just unique enough to warrant a watch, but only if this type of thing sounds up your alley.

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