When one of my friends left the screening of “The Moment”, Charli xcx film that concludes her infamous brat era, she texted me: “it feels like films are 90% marketing and 10% art these days.” The Moment feels like the end of a 2-year marketing campaign. Starting with the vibe-coded rollout of brat, and finishing with a mockumentary, full of references to the music industry and how artists are being treated. However, when you look online, the conversation is less about the plot of the movie – it’s about the marketing and the narrative behind the project itself.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
When it comes to promotion, talking about the output isn’t enough anymore. There needs to be more. People want lore, scandal, easter eggs, or outrage. They want something to cling onto. Movies have become brands in themselves. Every film gets its own Instagram page, and commercial partnerships, from Citymapper takeovers to merch. Last Autumn, Wicked for Good had over 400 brand partnerships, lining the shelves in pink and green memorabilia. For “Wuthering Heights”, the lore aspect was pushed: the signet ring that Margot and Jacob wore on set, or him supposedly filling her hotel room with roses. With the Moment, it’s the Taylor Swift digs as the closing scene looks a lot like the eras tour.
