THE STORY – While on vacation in Poland, Bethany breaks away from a romantic itinerary planned by her doting boyfriend, Rob, fearing that a marriage proposal is imminent. Reuniting instead with an old friend, Nel, the two women rekindle a uniquely combustible chemistry over the course of a few days in a chaste but burning tryst predicated on sapphic synchronicity and a mutual penchant for poetry.
THE CAST – Charli xcx, Lena Góra, Jeremy O. Harris, Will Madden & Agata Trzebuchowska
THE TEAM – Pete Ohs (Director & Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 71 Minutes
As Charli xcx sings on her electrifying album “brat,” everything is romantic, and it certainly is when you visit Warsaw, Poland, with your future fiance. Well, until a volcano erupts and you pick up all your old habits with a longtime friend. In director Pete Ohs’ breezy, colorful odyssey “Erupcja,” he manages to capture spontaneity, bad decisions, and the phrase “catch flights, not feelings” all in a quick 71 minutes. Though the film can feel a bit too unstructured at times, it’s made all the better with a charming film debut from Charli xcx and a cast of characters who keep the energy high at all times.
Sensing that she’s about to get a ring on her finger, Bethany (Charli xcx) and her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) have decided to visit Warsaw for a romantic getaway. She says it’s because there’s less pressure for everything to be perfect like in Paris, which was Rob’s initial idea, and it’s a more unique choice for a proposal compared to Kraków. But there’s far more to this city than Bethany shares with him. Each time she visits, a volcano erupts and she takes it as a sign to implode her own life with an old friend. Sure enough, soon after they land, Mt. Etna erupts, stranding them for a few extra days, and she takes that as a sign to meet up with Nel (Lena Góra).
There’s quite a bit of history between her and the flower shop owner, and it’s been several months since they’ve spoken to each other. But like riding a bike, these two get back into their rambunctious ways for a night of partying, drugs, and debouchery that’s very “brat”-coded. Unfortunately for the dutiful Rob, who has planned a whole day of amazing activities, he quickly gets left behind when an American painter (a hilarious Jeremy O. Harris) invites them to a party and Nel happens to be there too. Instead of fancy dinner reservations and the perfect proposal, she and Nel experience partying and early morning poetry recitations.
Charli xcx is the queen of raves and good times, and “Erupcja” captures her spirit fully. She trades in her popstar persona for a confused, down-to-earth young woman who, despite being in a relationship with a good guy, just isn’t sure if that’s right for her. At one point, she says “he’s really nice,” which doesn’t sound so bad, until she adds the killer words, “sometimes nice is boring.” That’s certainly clear when we see her electrifying on-screen presence with Góra, who brings to life Nel’s wistful persona with tired eyes and plenty of unsaid words. She, too, is stuck in her own weird situation with ex-girlfriend Ula (Agata Trzebuchowska), who recently returned to the city. While she’s eager to reconnect with her, once Bethany comes back in her life, everything starts imploding.
Making their wild nights together even more intriguing are the exuberant characters they meet along the way. Harris brings big laughs as the dry, sarcastic painter who likes to spend time in new cities to find inspiration. There’s also Nel’s customer, Jan (Jan Lubaczewski), who buys flowers in order to keep his unviable relationship alive. Ohs, also serving as the film’s cinematographer, plays with color throughout the film, cutting to colored screens frequently that often amplify a character’s mood, or zooming in on objects so that their hues fill up the entire screen. His shaky camerawork also aligns with the chaotic nature between these two women, contrasting with the steady shots when Bethany and Rob are together. More often than not, however, the screenplay leaves much to be desired. There aren’t very many deep conversations or answers given during the course of these few days, making the film a bit too breezy for its own good. Rob, too, emerges as an interesting character to follow when he’s on his own, but doesn’t get much substance in his storyline. However, these things are easy to forgive when Charli xcx is just living her best von dutch life.
“Erupcja” joins the ranks of films like Roberto Rossellini’s “Voyage to Italy,” Richard Linklater “Before” trilogy, and Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” that funnel their characters’ inner turmoil through grand city adventures. But Ohs’ feature is certainly unique from all of them – this is probably the only one where the neon green princess could shine as brightly as she does. While “Erupcja” might not have much weight with its story, you truly can’t beat a 71-minute technicolor runtime.
