Gregg Araki says Charli XCX has a deep understanding of cinema

Director Gregg Araki has described Charli XCX as a “sophisticated cinephile” before their upcoming movie I Want Your Sex arrives.

The musician has regularly discussed her passion for movies online, posting about what she watches through TikTok and maintaining her own Letterboxd profile.

Charli will soon appear in Araki’s project with Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman. Before its UK premiere, the filmmaker praised both the singer and the broader generation of younger movie enthusiasts.

“Whenever we do screenings in New York, [the audience is] all these Letterboxd kids,” he told The Guardian. “And they’re very sophisticated cinephiles – Charli XCX is one of them!

“They have very discerning taste in auteurs. It really gives me hope that this younger generation seeks out films that are not your standard popcorn multiplex movies.”

I Want Your Sex centres on a young man who secures employment with a celebrated artist and provocateur before becoming her sexual inspiration. The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

The project is among several acting appearances Charli has made since releasing her successful 2024 album ‘Brat’. She featured in Erupcja and 100 Nights Of Hero last year, followed by The Gallerist and Faces Of Death this year. Her current film slate also includes I Want Your Sex and her mockumentary The Moment.

The movie follows the arrival of Charli’s newest record, ‘Music, Fashion, Film’. She performed several tracks from the project live for the first time during several intimate concerts before headlining Lollapalooza 2026. During the festival, she also joined Lorde as a surprise guest for their collaboration ‘Girl, So Confusing’.

Alongside ‘Music, Fashion, Film’, Charli released a companion movie and several additional songs that she “begrudgingly” made available through iTunes. She has also revealed her five favourite tracks from her own catalogue.

The singer will make her first headline appearance at the Reading & Leeds festivals later this month before beginning an arena tour across North America. Any remaining tickets are available here.

Awarding ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ four stars, NME wrote: “The world turned her go-for-broke club-pop opus ‘Brat’ into the biggest album of her career and a cultural phenomenon, and Charli has responded by coolly spiking any and all ensuing expectations of her and her music.”