Charli xcx Joins Martin Scorsese’s What Happens at Night

By Elena Vasquez

Charli xcx has appeared in seven films over the past two years, and Variety reports that she will add a cameo to Martin Scorsese’s What Happens at Night alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.

Charli and Scorsese’s collaboration now extends beyond the cover of her new album, Music, Fashion, Film. The singer’s character and scenes remain undisclosed. Variety says her part is “being kept under wraps,” while representatives for Charli, Apple and StudioCanal did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.

What does What Happens at Night involve?

Variety describes the upcoming project as a “Gothic psychological horror film.” The project is an Apple and StudioCanal production. It follows an American married couple who travel to a small European town to adopt a baby.

Their attempt to claim the child sits at the center of the story. According to Variety’s summary, they seem to know less about themselves as that struggle unfolds. The premise combines the couple’s adoption effort, marital uncertainty and a small European setting.

The ensemble also includes Mads Mikkelsen, Patricia Clarkson and Jared Harris. Charli’s credit is now public, but her role and the film’s release schedule remain undisclosed, and Variety reports that no release date has been set.

How has cinema shaped Charli xcx’s recent work?

Variety says Charli has been building a film presence as of late. Seven movies over the past two years form that record. One is The Moment, a mockumentary directed by her frequent collaborator Aidan Zamiri. It satirized the commercial success she achieved with Brat.

Variety reports that cinema also inspired her latest album, Music, Fashion, Film. Its cover pictures John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Scorsese together to symbolize music, fashion and film. The reported cameo turns that symbolic collaboration into an on-screen credit with the director.

The reported project places Charli inside a named ensemble with DiCaprio, Lawrence, Mikkelsen, Clarkson and Harris, extending her two-year film record beyond the mockumentary satire of The Moment. Her film trajectory has moved from mockumentary satire to an undisclosed ensemble role.

What are the next dated milestones?

Variety reports that Charli is currently wrapping the U.S. leg of her tour for Music, Fashion, Film. The final show of that leg takes place in Las Vegas on Friday. She then heads to Europe in February.

Variety identifies What Happens at Night as Scorsese’s follow-up to 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon. DiCaprio starred in that film as well. It received 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture.

No release date has been set for What Happens at Night, and no further details about Charli’s scenes are available. With the film’s schedule still open, the next fixed public marker is Charli’s Friday Las Vegas concert before she heads to Europe in February.

A release date and fuller role description will provide the next meaningful disclosures for What Happens at Night.