Concert Tour Docs Take Themselves too Seriously. Charli XCX’s ‘The…

Charli XCX finally dropped the trailer for The Moment, the upcoming mockumentary based on an “original idea” by the songstress that’s set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 27, 2026. And while most artists treat their concert films like sacred holdings, Charli seems far more interested in poking fun at pop-star mythmaking.

The trailer is already stuffed with LOL moments skewering the absurdities of pop stardom. Alexander Skarsgård appears as a show director so out of touch that when Charli’s assistant tells him she’s “singing about cocaine,” he pauses and asks, “Literally or metaphorically?”

“What’s metaphorical cocaine?” she shoots back.

At another point Charli finds herself trapped inside a giant sparkly lighter.

“Why would I be inside it if it’s on fire?” she deadpans right before the thing goes off.

Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennott also make appearances, giving Charli tips on how to stay that girl.

"The second people are getting sick of you, that’s when you have to go even harder,” Jenner says. Exactly.

The timing for this kind of movie could not be better. Too many concert films/docs in the past few years have taken themselves so seriously. Billie Eilish’s March 2026 release (directed by James Cameron) rolled out a trailer this week as well, declaring things like, “He changed movies,” “She changed music,” “Together, they’ll reinvent the concert experience.” Oh, really??

And then there’s the unofficial template of the genre. We also see dramatic behind-the-scenes tears, grueling rehearsals, the triumphant monologue that assures us the artist “pushed through” some existential challenge, and, shocker, that it resolved itself by the end.

Taylor Swift’s new docuseries on Disney+, chronicling the stadium-size Eras Tour, leans heavily into this energy. In the teaser, she proclaims, “We have done something that no one has ever done.” Girl, you went on tour.

Which is why Charli’s approach feels so timely. It’s satire, it’s self-aware, and, most important, it’s fun.

Charli told Vanity Fair a few months ago the movie was a “2024 period piece.”

“It’s not a tour documentary or a concert film in any way, but the seed of the idea was conceived from this idea of being pressured to make one,” the singer said. “It’s fiction, but it’s the realest depiction of the music industry that I’ve ever seen.”

Written by Aidan Zamiri and Bertie Brandes and directed by Zamari, the mockumentary was birthed during Charli’s busiest time yet, when Brat dropped.

“It almost felt like a diary entry of, ‘This is how I feel right now,’” Zamiri said. “This feeling of having just almost got everything she could have wanted, and what that felt like on kind of a human level.”

The Moment hits theaters on Jan. 30, 2026.

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