Charli XCX’s Mockumentary is an Unmitigated Catastrophe

The most effective one can most likely say about The Second, Charli XCX’s horribly misguided mockumentary, is that the enigmatic star has used her appreciable creative and social clout to make one thing fully divorced from her astronomical expectations. This isn’t, as was perhaps marketed, a loosely fictionalized behind-the-scenes take a look at the Brat Tour. There is no such thing as a music save for a needle drop of Bittersweet Symphony. As an alternative, the movie is sort of a weird cross between That is Spinal Faucet and Uncut Gems, by which XCX performs a largely aloof model of herself till she is pushed to a breaking level by the calls for of commercialization and the optimization of her personal model, all whereas making an attempt to honor her personal voice.

None of it really works. I am going to lower to the short: The Second is an unmitigated catastrophe. There’s a sure hubris to creating a movie that’s completely devoid of stakes, however it’s exhausting to explain that gall as something however absurdly boastful, or else woefully out of contact. On reflection, Although director Aidan Zamiri has confirmed his mettle with high degree music artist and high-level ads, he has none in anyway constructing a reputable piece of fiction. I am unsure if it is a good begin.

The Second is a Complete Misfire on Almost Each Stage

The Second is a shapeless, completely uninteresting train in self-effacement. Any try the film makes at peeling again the layers of a global icon is wholly for naught. Most unforgivable is that it lacks any sort of real power till it all of a sudden, irrationally, depicts Charli having a breakdown as a result of a facialist at a elaborate resort in Ibiza refuses to offer her service.

As finest as I can perceive it, The Second is a movie about Charli XCX fearful of being perceived as too cringe. That is about it. Because the fictional XCX, Charli is exhausted by the whirlwind of consideration she’s getting from firms, her music label, her followers and her illustration, however largely she would not appear to care about a lot of something. The movie portrays the Brat Tour as a millstone round her neck, and she or he simply needs to flee all of it.

However the label has earned an excessive amount of cash off of her, and they also brainstorm methods to make Brat Summer time final perpetually, deciding on an thought to usher in Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård), a South African live performance director whose performatively woke angle belies a misogyny anybody might odor from a mile away. Skarsgård is ridiculous and obnoxious in a personality that’s so cartoonishly buffoonish it appears unattainable to consider he’d really exist.

Charli is skeptical of Johannes, however for some purpose is unwilling to place the ultimate kabosh on his employment due to… the strain she’s going through? I suppose? In the meantime, her good friend and live performance director Celeste (Hailey Benton Gates, doing all she will be able to to convey a level of normalcy to this circus) appears to actually perceive the artist’s needs however is drowned out by the ocean of noise round her. The most important supply of stress within the movie is between Celeste and Johannes of their battle over Charli, however none of their creative disagreements register as both actual nor attention-grabbing in any conceivable approach.

Similtaneously she prepares for the massive present, she is pulled right into a comically capitalistic sell-out of a partnership with a financial institution that’s making an attempt to market a brand new bank card for younger queers. It is a decently humorous set-up, however the eventual payoff of its implications is first performed as an apocalyptic occasion earlier than being absolutely forged apart as inconsequential.

The Second is usually improvised by actors who haven’t any expertise doing so. The actors who do know what they’re doing on this regard are on the margins. Kate Berlant is hilarious in her brief display time as Charli’s hair and make-up particular person; Richard Perez will get a pair nice one-liners within the background because the assistant to Tammy (Rosanna Arquette), the pinnacle of the file label; Rachel Sennott is actually the identical character she performs in I Love L.A., in precisely one scene; Jamie Demetriou, whose present Stath Lets Flats is without doubt one of the finest British comedies of the final couple a long time, has virtually zero room to be humorous as Charli’s nervous supervisor, Tim.

When it is not making an attempt to be humorous, it is making an attempt very exhausting to be a severe self-appraisal, and it’s to Charli’s credit score that she would not precisely painting herself in a constructive gentle. She earnestly appears to really feel crushed by the burden of her exponential progress as a famous person and the unattainable calls for of staying true to her artistic voice, in addition to the monetary wishes of those who depend upon her. However the movie neither works as straight comedy nor as a tense character drama.

As an alternative, what comes out within the wash is a masturbatory mess. Zamiri’s path is cataclysmic. The entire movie is uncomfortably located between eager to skewer the very world Charli has helped to create and sincerely unmask the human behind a motion. However neither route is served effectively. I suppose in the event you’re that well-known the concept of being seen as cringe is so unthinkable that it seems like a nightmare, however it feels a bit unfair to imagine that I, or anybody, can relate to one thing so absurdly innocuous. Although, if Charli’s honest need is to kill brat, I believe it is honest to say she’s completed it.

The Second screened on the 2026 Sundance Movie Competition.