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Why is Charli xcx the new hope of indie cinema?
Singer Charli xcx is starring in cult filmmaker Gregg Araki’s upcoming film I Want Your Sex, alongside Olivia Wilde and presented at Sundance in January 2026. Other new exciting projects? A feminist reading of One Thousand and One Nights and a drama set in Poland, which respectively premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival. What if those three features propelled the once niche singer to the ranks of a Hollywood actress to watch closely?
By Violaine Schütz,
and Jordan Bako.
Published on 10 October 2025. Updated on 2 June 2026.
I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki’s new film
Who said the “Brat Summer” was over? After making her mark over the last three months with the album Brat, its videos and its gleaming remixes, Charli xcx will soon be making the headlines of the cinema news. Indeed, the singer will appear in the much-anticipated project I Want Your Sex by cult indie filmmaker Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin, Nowhere), which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2026.
Known for his trashy, violent, countercultural and sexy aesthetic, the American director has a knack for bringing together magnetic stars on screen: Rose McGowan, Chiara Mastroianni, Eva Green, Shannen Doherty, Roxane Mesquida, Juno Temple and Traci Lords have already starred in his films.
For I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki also hits hard by calling on (in addition to Charli xcx) actress and director Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling, Too Much) and Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), who is none other than Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s son…
If Gregg Araki has worked in recent years on series (American Gigolo, Now Apocalypse, 13 Reasons Why, Riverdale, American Crime…), he had not made a feature film since the sublime and disturbing White Bird, released in 2014.
Greta Gerwig, Natalie Portman… Charli xcx’s collaborators on screen
But this ambitious project is far from being Charli xcx’s only venture. She previously lent her voice to the animated film UglyDolls (2019). Some of her tracks were in the soundtracks of Angry Birds (2016), Bottoms (2023), and Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie (2023). The star will once again compose original songs, this time for Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Recently, the artist also appeared in an episode of the delightfully outrageous series Overcompensating. In addition to being one of the executive producers of the show, Charli xcx made a cameo in one of the episodes.
This horror feature film directed by Daniel Goldhaber (Sabotage, Cam) promises to be “a compilation of violent scenes, featuring the fictional death of human beings.” And it will feature another Gen Z idol: Barbie Ferreira, one of the heroines of the series Euphoria. It’s hard to get more specific…
The singer is also set to star in Cathy Yan’s film The Gallerist, alongside Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Screened at Sundance, the feature follows a desperate gallery owner who tries to sell a dead person’s body at Miami Art Basel…
A feminist reading of the One Thousand and One Nights presented in Venice
According to Variety, the singer also filmed Pete Ohs’ film Erupcja in Poland this summer. Charli xcx plays an American woman who travels to Warsaw to see a Polish friend.
Charli xcx will also star alongside Nicolas Galitzine, Emma Corrin, and Maika Monroe (Longlegs) in a feminist reading of One Thousand and One Nights. The film is an adaptation of Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel 100 Nights of Hero. Presented in the category International Critics’ Week at the Venice Film Festival on September 5th, 2025, this new interpretation marks Julia Jackman’s directorial debut.
Charli xcx is also part of the cast of Sacrifice, a film by Romain Gavras starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Salma Hayek. Whether in cinema or in music, the singer clearly knows how to choose her collaborators…
The Moment, a film based on Charli xcx’s idea
And that’s not all! Charli xcx has also launched her own production company, Studio365. Alongside A24, she will co-produce the film The Moment, directed by Aidan Zamiri, the man behind the video for her track 360. The trend-setter behind the Brat Summer will have the lead role in this feature film based on one of her idea – a pop star preparing for a tour. Her longtime collaborator A. G. Cook will also be part of the project, overseeing the original soundtrack.
Many celebrities make an appearance in this mockumentary presented at Sundance. Kylie Jenner, Rosanna Arquette, Alexander Skarsgård, Rachel Sennott, Mel Ottenberg, Shygirl, and even Arielle Dombasle are part of the cast.
Finally, Charli xcx keeps venturing into horror cinema with a new project on the horizon. She will produce and star in Japanese director Takashi Miike‘s upcoming feature. Known for his extremely violent scenes, the prolific filmmaker will be working alongside screenwriter Ross Evans. As for the plot, nothing has been revealed yet…
I Want Your Sex by Gregg Araki will come out on July 31st in US theatres.
