In the summertime of 2024, it appeared unattainable to flee the neon slime shade and lowercase textual content of Charli xcx’s sixth studio album, Brat. For a film concerning the feel-good occasion season that by no means appeared to finish, Charli and director Aidan Zamiri have taken a somewhat totally different strategy than the standard live performance movie that includes behind-the-scenes snippets of tour life and rehearsals main as much as an enormous present in entrance of waves of screaming followers. “The Second” is one thing totally different, an enormous swing into the mockumentary style satirizing the pressures of pop stardom and the wrestle for artistic management. It doesn’t all the time work, however Charli xcx, as ever, throws a wild occasion.
Following an exaggerated model of the star herself, Zamiri’s “The Second” begins with a bang: Charli xcx dancing amongst strobe lights that change from inexperienced to blue to purple, full with a flashing mild warning. It’s September 2024, just a few months into the newly minted “Brat” period, however the occasion environment simmers down as soon as Charli catches her breath. Then it’s on to London, then a British Vogue video shoot, terse Zoom calls within the limo, and at last, again to a celebration for a much-needed stress break. Being well-known is a grind. The hurricane round Charli is barely rising extra harmful as plans for a live performance movie mess along with her artistic course of and her relationship along with her artistic director. With the label (headed by Rosanna Arquette), managers, and now a extremely opinionated and patronizing director (Alexander Skarsgård) making an attempt to dictate how finest to maintain Brat Summer season going ceaselessly, Charli xcx should determine what Brat means to her and whether or not or to not maintain “the second” going.
To her credit score, Charli xcx throws herself into the position, enjoying the a part of a mercurial pop star who’s making an attempt to be cool despite all the surface forces meddling along with her imaginative and prescient. She is her personal wild card, shortly altering gears and sending her workforce scrambling to accommodate every new mandate. At instances, she will be off-puttingly egocentric, however once more, that is the satire world model of Charli, probably standing in for related stars who, after pouring their vitality right into a hit-making album, wrestle to determine what’s their subsequent transfer. “The Second,” which is predicated on Charli’s thought and experiences then expanded right into a script by co-writers Zamiri and Bertie Brandes, might lack in live performance footage however it is stuffed with jokes concerning the business, together with a fairly intelligent subplot a couple of “Brat”-branded bank card that causes bother for Charli and a string of unending advertisements and commercials that includes the star hawking every part from skincare to wine.
In our present state of movie star tradition, it looks like an inescapable a part of the machine, alongside the late-night speak present stops and lengthy hours spent within the make-up chair. Numerous cameos additionally add to the film’s madcap spirit, together with Kate Berlant, Kylie Jenner, and Rachel Sennot, who delivers the withering line, “Are you doing the Joaquin Phoenix factor?” Certainly, there’s a little bit of Casey Affleck’s “I’m Nonetheless Right here” within the DNA of “The Second” in addition to “This Is Spinal Faucet” with the inclusion of questionable stage props and even a little bit of Howard Stern’s “Non-public Components,” a fictionalized model of Stern’s combat with the fits with a wholesome dose of irreverent humor.
Zamiri, who beforehand collaborated with Charli xcx on her music movies “360” and “Guess,” joins forces with cinematographer Sean Value Williams to convey a classy strategy to the movie, one which, after the bombastic opening, doesn’t get too many alternatives to shine. As an alternative, the movie takes on a pretend cinema vérité strategy, watching the occasions unfold because the movie crew is each there and never there. With a lot happening, “The Second” loses its momentum about midway by way of, meandering between interpersonal skirmishes a la “The Thick of It” with out the short enhancing or the zingers. The occasion spirit by no means fairly recovers its kinetic presence.
Regardless of its messy second half, it’s amusing to observe Charli skewer her personal public persona, movie star tradition, and its company packaging, poking enjoyable at money-driven executives and at how different artistic forces can form how we see our favourite performers. “Brat Summer season” was a vibe till it wasn’t. “The Second” is Charli xcx’s kiss-off to the tip of an period, a parting present to the final Sundance Movie Pageant in Park Metropolis, Utah.
This overview was filed from the world premiere on the Sundance Movie Pageant. It opens on January thirtieth, 2026.
