Featuring films by Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola and Todd Haynes.

Made with longtime collaborators A. G. Cook and Finn Keane, Charli xcx’s divisive and self-referential seventh studio album explores ego, identity and process, as well as the demands of artistic creation, the pull of reinvention, and questions of legacy and mortality. Across 11 short, guitar-based tracks, it features one guest feature in the form of a spoken-word outro by David Cronenberg.

Here are nine films for your watch list that wrestle with the same ideas.

© Entertainment One Films, Le Pacte, MFA+ Filmdistribution, Focus World (US)

1

'Maps to the Stars' (2014)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Currently one of Charli’s Letterboxd Top Four, Cronenberg’s surreal and brutal Hollywood satire dissects celebrity, ambition and the industry that feeds on both.

© Apple TV+

2

'The Velvet Underground' (2021)

Directed by Todd Haynes

In what is widely regarded as the best music documentary made about The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes chronicles the band’s emergence from New York’s downtown avant-garde, centring on the creative partnership between Lou Reed and John Cale.

3

'Perfect Blue' (1997)

Directed by Satoshi Kon

Satoshi Kon’s animated psychological horror follows a pop singer whose acting debut sends her identity into freefall.

© Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox

4

'Josie and the Pussycats' (2001)

Directed by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan

A box office bomb turned cult classic about the marketing machine behind pop music. As Charli herself said earlier this year: “It’s reminiscent of purer days, when selling out was deemed lame and dishonest…”

© 20th Century-Fox

5

'The King of Comedy' (1982)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

An unsettling story of celebrity obsession via Music, Fashion, Film cover art star Martin Scorsese.

© Paramount Pictures

6

'Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains' (1982)

Directed by Lou Adler

Lou Adler’s coming-of-age classic follows three teenage girls navigating fame, exploring how the music industry manufactures, commodifies and discards female rebellion.

© A24

7

'Marc By Sofia' (2025)

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Among the best fashion documentaries in recent memory, Marc By Sofia is a tribute not only to Jacobs as a designer, but also to artistic dedication, reinvention and long-lasting creative partnership.

© AB Svensk Filmindustri

8

'Persona' (1966)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Still one of the greatest films ever made about ego, identity and performance.

© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

9

'Confessions of a Shopaholic' (2009)

Directed by P. J. Hogan

If Card Declined were a film: consumerism, impulse, financial chaos and identity crisis wrapped in a glossy 00s rom-com.

Read our stan’s guide to Charli xcx

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