‘Erupcja’ Review: This is Charli XCX’s Moment
Because of Charli XCX's star-making performance, Pete Ohs subverts a conventional story with Erupcja to deliver a textured, aesthetically daring character study of a broken couple seeking purpose inside a world in total eruption.
2026 may be Charli XCX’s moment, more so than the Brat era, which she killed with precision in Aidan Zamiri’s The Moment. Starring in a total of six films this year (potentially more are still undated), the singer/songwriter strikingly transitions from the turntable to the big screen and hopes that her audience will see a different side of her through the versatile projects she worked on. Whilst The Moment definitely felt like a statement from Charlotte Emma Aitchison herself, and she only had a bit part in Daniel Goldhaber’s daring reinterpretation of Gorgon Video’s Faces of Death, she finally has the opportunity to show what kind of an Actor (with a capital A) she is made of in Pete Ohs’ Erupcja.
More conventional than its Andrzej Wajda-esque opening credits sequence suggests, Ohs’ latest is of immense aesthetic and thematic confidence. It’s a shame that his screenplay can’t hold the same candle as its images and hyperdynamic editing techniques, because the surface of the film is incredibly simple. We follow a couple, Bethany (Charli XCX) and Rob (Will Madden), as they arrive in Poland for a holiday. The two seem to be in love, but their relationship suddenly changes when they are forced to spend a few more days in the country after learning that Mount Etna has erupted.
This prompts Bethany to rekindle her friendship with an old friend, Nel (Lena Góra), with whom she has a close connection. As the two begin to reconnect, Bethany admits she found a ring in their apartment and realizes that Rob plans to propose to her if given the opportunity. Knowing this, Bethany begins to doubt whether she wants to commit to Rob and questions what this union will actually mean.
It’s a short – but effective – character study that primarily thrives in the naturalism of its fly-on-the-wall, vérité-esque aesthetic and performances rooted in emotional complexities through silences. If you didn’t think Charli XCX was an actor before seeing Erupcja, there’s a high possibility you’ll change your mind by the time the credits roll on this fleeting 71-minute feature. Her performance, especially, is informed by her long (and often drawn-out) silences, which speak louder than any delivery of the word “I love you” in Polish (Kocham cię) to Rob.
When she actively says it to him, does she really mean it? At first, we believe so, but as we begin to spend more time with her – and, by extension, Nel – we might be inclined to think otherwise. Góra’s portrayal of Bethany’s friend, whose fates seem to be interlinked with multiple volcanic eruptions, also thrives on silence, but it’s of a different kind. Whereas Bethany reflects on her potential marriage to Rob, Nel begins to think about what she wants her life to be in the present moment, and, most importantly, who she wants to spend it with.
It’s a painfully introspective movie that asks a lot out of its audience for such a short runtime, but one can’t fault Ohs for never wanting to overstay his welcome. In that regard, some characters definitely needed a bit more fleshing out (such as Jeremy O. Harris’ Claude or Rob himself), but one can almost sense the work being more essayistic than aiming for a “picture-perfect” linear piece of filmmaking. The film’s aesthetic, both shot and edited by Ohs himself, feels purposefully imperfect, but that’s precisely why it strikes our attention. The use of strobing colors, a (shaky) handheld camera, and a constant proximity to the feelings of its protagonists adds to the intimacy of the emotional journey Ohs wants us to feel, rather than understand.
The only drawback of Erupcja’s aesthetic experience is its hand-holding voice-over narration, which, at first, adds more texture than we think, but begins to lean toward explaining things rather than leaving it all open to interpretation. After all, such a clichéd scenario doesn’t need much guidance: it’s all in the images and in the ways the characters look at one another, which, in turn, informs how audiences perceive human interaction. Still, one can’t necessarily fault Ohs for attempting to accompany the audience inside his brief essay, even if the resulting effect isn’t what he’d ultimately hoped.
That said, this is Charli XCX’s moment, something she’s been naturally building towards for some time. Breaking into film, especially as an acclaimed pop star, is hard. But after co-composing Emma Seligman’s Bottoms with Leo Birenberg, it was only natural that she would eventually take a crack at acting, first in bit parts, then by playing herself, until she was ready for talents to come on full display with Ohs’ Erupcja. After seeing this simple but emotive essay, I’m more than convinced that Charli has a future on the screen for many decades to come.