Erupcja, 2026.
Directed by Pete Ohs.
Starring Charli xcx, Lena Góra, Will Madden, Jeremy O. Harris, Agata Trzebuchowska, Maja Michnacka, Jan Lubaczewski, and Jacek Zubiel.
SYNOPSIS:
The combustible chemistry between a Polish florist and a British tourist in this charming postcard of sapphic synchronicity.
There are volcanic eruptions all around Warsaw, hence the title of director Pete Ohs (also writing the screenplay alongside the four major characters, further adding to the mumblecore aimlessness and repetitiveness), Erupcja. Call it a coincidence or unexplainable magic, but whenever Charli xcx’s Bethany visits, a nearby volcano erupts. This does not happen with her boyfriend of roughly a year, Rob (Will Madden), who she knows has compromised a vacation to Paris for Warsaw because he is going to propose to her, something she is clearly uninterested in. There are no sparks in this romance, let alone an eruption, a metaphor too obvious and simplistic to maintain within the investment, even at the scant 71-minute run time here.
The filmmaker also seems aware of this, so there is a second metaphor, here, in that maybe Bethany is symbolic of those eruptions, as she essentially turns everyone’s life upside down, whenever in Warsaw, whether it be her boyfriend or a friend she reconnects with, florist Nel (Lena Góra). Perhaps there will be an eruption. As an aside, it’s also worth pointing out that this collaborative on-set screenwriting seems to have resulted in a game of rhyming storytelling Mad-libs; Bethany is a tourist, so how about Nel is a florist!
Bethany decides to ditch Rob, heading out for a night on the town with Nel, where, if I learned anything from The Moment, is what Charli xcx does best: partying hard with drugs, with the character possibly cheating on her boyfriend in the process. Most of the details (and much of the story in general) are kept to dry narrations. That is confounding on more than one level; why cast Charli XCX or take the movie there if the filmmaking isn’t going to indulge the nightlife scene?
Instead, Erupcja becomes an unintentionally hilarious story about a clueless boyfriend who doesn’t realize his girlfriend simply isn’t interested in him or in his vacation itinerary. During lunch, Bethany becomes more interested in the American painter they come across (Jeremy O. Harris), blisteringly quick to accept a party invitation and hang out there, where Nel coincidentally also joins in as another acquaintance of his. It is established that Bethany has a Master’s in studying 19th-century art, something that Rob couldn’t care less about at the museum they visit. One almost hopes that at some point, Rob is going to walk on Bethany cheating on him, simply to finally make him aware, and for some dark humor.
As mentioned, Bethany isn’t only causing havoc in her and Rob’s lives (at one point, she abandons him and clearly ignores his worried texts and calls, leaving us wondering if she will ever come back to him). Nel, who is currently seeing someone, is initially reluctant to hang out with her, which says everything that needs to be said about the ruinous nature of these two when they get together. As another character points out, volcanoes also kill people, as if the film is also saying, with the bluntness of a sledgehammer to the throat, that their behavior destroys lives.
There is an interesting movie in Erupcja about returning to self-destructive habits after realizing one is in an unfulfilling relationship (which is on the verge of becoming much more serious) somewhere. This never comes out, which is not only a disservice to the film but also what was technically Charli xcx’s debut performance. It’s a movie that posits she is an uncontrollably chaotic human being akin to a volcano, but hollow in execution and practically afraid to let her be that volcano on-screen.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
