sucker! Putty! patchy! With nine films in the works, can charli xcx act? | film

IIn the back of the booth, Charli xcx pulls a makeup wipe over her face. The close-up of that face, with its distinctive halo of dark hair, lipstick-stained pout, and bushy, overgrown brows, is perhaps the most striking scene in her new film, The Moment. Charlie peels a strip of sticky, ugly jewels from her lower lash line, and a look of remorse and shame crosses her face. It’s a rare few seconds in Aidan Zamiri’s intelligent and knowing satire of 21st-century pop stardom, which wonders what would have happened if the singer had lost her head following the success of her 2024 album Brat. The film is described as a mockumentary, but it’s ambitious. Being taken seriously is no joke.

The Moment has already been positioned as Charlie’s pivot from pop to the silver screen, following a buzzy premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Charli was there to promote it, along with two other films she’s starring in. I Want Your Sex, a dark comedy from new film pioneer Greg Araki, has been mostly warmly received, though early consensus has declared The Gallerist, which stars Natalie Portman, a dud.

When Peter Os’ indie drama Erupcja was released It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, and The New Yorker praised the “classic intelligence” of Charlie’s screen presence, singling out her “energetic, poised performance” as emotionally avoidant party girl Bethany. She has a small but important role in this week’s new release 100 Nights of Hero, Julia Jackman’s charming feminist fantasy, and will also appear on the soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. According to IMDb, the Charlie actor has roles in nine feature films and counting (other upcoming films include Dakota Johnson’s directorial debut A Tree Is Blue, and a remake of Mondo’s 1978 shocker Faces of Death). Why did they suddenly appear in everything, everywhere, seemingly all at once?

Other pop musicians interested in Hollywood tend to start by dipping their toe in the water. A cameo in director Christopher Nolan’s 2017 World War II drama Dunkirk proved that Harry Styles could be convincing in close-ups, but he didn’t provide the training necessary to carry a feature film. When he appeared in lead roles in two 2022 films, Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman, there was a sense that the singer was breaking into the drag race before he learned to walk. His performance in the first was particularly vacant and one-dimensional and his acting career seems to have petered out since then.

Charlie’s style in the film may seem extreme by comparison, but she actually started small. As a pop star, she commands the stage with the energy of a lead character, but on screen, at least so far, she seems quite happy in a supporting role. Her parts in The Gallerist, as a friend of an arts influencer, and as Mother Nature in Romain Gavras’s celebrity satire “Sacrifice” have been described as cameos. She’s not first in I Want Your Sex either, though early reviews have praised her for playing against type — she plays the wisecracking girlfriend of a young man who is drawn into an affair with an exotic performer twice his age.

100 Nights of Hero takes place in a medieval fantasy world operating under a strict patriarchal rule. Charlie’s scenes are limited to a story within a story. As Rosa, she seems nice; Unconscious, stripped of her usual dark make-up and showing purity of spirit before she utters a single word. There is an unexpected softness in Rosa’s gestures, as when she runs a brush through her sister’s hair or rests her head on her father’s chest. The smiling storybook heroine is forced to pretend she doesn’t know how to read, a million miles away from the scowling, stomping, cigarette-smoking character of Charlie. But it sells effortlessly.

The moment, in which she plays her first proper lead role, takes a powerful pop persona and gamely tries to twist it. She removes urine from her hair, her brand deals, and even her old songs. She’s the star but also the butt of the joke. The actual Charlie probably won’t be talked into letting a man wearing prayer beads direct her concert documentary because Kylie Jenner said it was a good idea.

A funny (if not entirely believable) plot involving an ill-advised credit card brand is an example of the script’s usual tone, but Charlie’s performance as an artist under pressure is spot on. At an event promoting the credit card, a fan excitedly told Charlie that her music kept him from killing himself. Charli looks nervous and surprised, playing her reaction for real rather than for an easy laugh.

Her ability to manipulate her face is one of her greatest talents as an actress. In Benito Skinner’s TV comedy Overcompensation, she exploits it for comedy. Little Deadpan’s eye rolls and insincere closed mouth smile are deployed as she plays a parody version of herself who reluctantly performs at a college concert. “Are you Ju-King?” She screams at her hapless tour manager, exaggerating her voice to brilliantly funny effect. During the concert, college student Benny imagines a cheerful Charlie leading the audience in an insulting chant. “Penny. Loves. Boys!” She screams, her eyes widening like a crazy, idiotic demon.

If these roles don’t necessarily display great range, they reveal their astuteness. So far, Charlie has been drawn to independent films that are fun and in tune with her tastes, and to directors with strong points of view. Many musicians-turned-actors make the mistake of assuming that their appeal will automatically translate to a different medium, and shoot straight for “prestigious” films. Beyoncé’s tough turns in Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records are two classic examples of a star who exudes charm but hasn’t quite honed her craft on screen.

The right roles are just as important as the right collaborators. In “A Star Is Born,” Lady Gaga’s rise from nightclub singer to industry leader is a story that satisfies her story. In Gucci’s frivolous house, she still seemed somewhat reasonable, although she couldn’t get past the cruel joker: Folie à Deux. Elsewhere, Ariana Grande was a perfect fit as the vivacious but fragile Glenda in Wicked, and Tyler, the Creator’s natural exuberance was brilliantly harnessed by Josh Safdie in Marty Supreme. The musicians who succeed in the movie world are the ones who look as if they actually watch movies. Just look at A$AP Rocky, who recently gave two great performances in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest and in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, the new film from Safdie Brothers collaborator Mary Bronstein.

Charlie’s taste is her secret weapon. The singer’s love of movies has been well documented on her Letterboxd account, which has gone viral for her eclectic, cinephile watchlist (Jacques Rivette’s gorgeously surreal Celine and Julie Go Boating remains in her top four). In an interview on the Deeper Into Movies podcast, she told the host that watching movies “is all I do, if I’m not partying or working.” However, being a movie fan is one thing and making them is another.

“I always prefer for the initial spark to come from me and my fellow collaborators rather than outsourcing it,” Charli told Variety when asked about how she chooses her roles. In 2014, Charli cast Rose McGowan, star of Araki’s The Doom Generation, in the music video for Break the Rules, so it feels like a full circle moment to see Charli landing a role in Araki’s film.

Many of the films she made seem to have come directly through her social circle and not from the mind of a smart director who knew her presence would cause a sensation. Charlie met Oh through their mutual friend, playwright Jeremy O. Harris. Zamiri directed several of Charli’s music videos before they decided to do The Moment together, and Skinner said he initially reached out to her at a party.

In “Sacrifice,” which received lukewarm reviews after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, she announced herself as a “little part” alongside her “little brother,” Swedish rapper Yung Lin. These small, low-risk acting roles seem to be more about having a good time with her friends than enhancing her standing in Hollywood. My feeling is that this situation will take her away.

The next stop on Charlie’s road to screen domination is Final Wuthering Heights. The divisive director of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn mixes quirky humor with downright feminism. Her brilliant studio adaptation of Emily Brontë’s beloved novel doesn’t seem, at least in my opinion, an obvious fit for Charlie, but attaching herself to the project through its soundtrack makes sense. It allows Charlie to flirt with Brontë’s gothic aesthetic (and ride on the fringes of the film’s hype), while remaining safely next to his director. This clever, even genius move suggests that the film’s star, Charlie, may turn out to be an author rather than a vessel.