Stars slam Trump's actions at Sundance Film Festival

British singer Charli XCX's 'The Moment' album premieres at event amid celebrities' criticism of US govt crackdown

PARK CITY, UTAH, US:

Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents. Actress Olivia Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of "The Invite," said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was "unfathomable." "I can't believe that we're watching people get murdered in the street," she told AFP. "These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote 'officers,' and watching them be murdered -- it's unfathomable. We cannot normalize it." Wilde's comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents. Pretti's death came weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car in the city. Wilde, who wore an "ICE OUT" badge, said the US government violence against people exercising their right to free expression was "un-American." "We may have a government that is somehow trying to make excuses for it and legitimize it, but we (Americans) don't." Fellow actress Natalie Portman, who was promoting "The Gallerist," got emotional as she described her feelings over a "horrible day." "What is happening in our country is just obscene," she told AFP in Park City. "What (President Donald) Trump and (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and ICE are doing to our citizens and to undocumented people is outrageous and needs to end.

But what's a megastar to do when she has defined an entire summer, produced a multi-million-selling album and even persuaded the dictionary eggheads to declare "brat" a word of the year?

That's the conundrum at the heart of "The Moment," a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary starring Charli XCX as she grapples with her meteoric rise to fame and tries to prepare for a sell-out arena tour.

"I'm obviously quite related to my character," the 33-year-old British singer quipped at the Sundance Film Festival, where "The Moment" premiered on Friday.

"I would like to think I'm not as much of a nightmare as Charli in the film," she said to laughter.

The celluloid Charli is indeed a bit of a nightmare: a pastiche of a controlling diva who is on top of every detail, and yet is just a young singer thrust suddenly into the global spotlight and surrounded by an oppressive and needy entourage.

She and her tour's creative director, Celeste (played by Hailey Gates), want to move on from "brat," the skinny tank tops and IDGAF self-indulgence that dominated 2024, when her album of the same name ruled streaming platforms.

But the suits -- the record label executive (Rosanna Arquette) and Johannes, the solipsistic film director hired to shepherd the tour movie (Alexander Skarsgard) -- want to keep the "brat" money machine rolling.

The clash of artistic vision sees Celeste and Johannes battle it out over tour design, in which her on-brand strobe and in-your-face messaging gives way to his light-up wrist bands and a stage set that "looks like a lava lamp," she tells Charli.

A bizarre credit card endorsement aimed at young, queer customers ("How will they know?" asks a bewildered Charli) adds to the pressure and Charli jets off to a spa on Ibiza.

A chance encounter there with Kylie Jenner (in a cameo appearance) sends Charli further down the celebrity spiral, and she caves in to Johannes' sanitized vision of her tour.

Tribute to Reiner

The script, written by Bertie Brandes and Aidan Zamiri, who also directs, draws heavily on archetypes in a plot that sticks closely to the familiar artist-against-the-machine formula.

But, Charli said, those characters accurately describe the music industry.

"I've met different versions of all of the characters in this film," she told filmgoers.