OVERVIEW
In Pete Ohs’s Erupcja, Charli XCX plays Bethany, a British traveler who insists to her boyfriend that they go to Warsaw for their romantic getaway instead of Paris. Despite being Poland’s capital and largest city, Warsaw is, unlike Kraków, the old royal capital, short on Renaissance castles, Gothic churches, and centuries-old universities. Rob is confused but plans accordingly, and the two book a cheap Airbnb and follow a carefully curated itinerary he has prepared, hoping it will culminate in his asking for her hand. She, however, found the ring a while ago and is still unsure what to do. Her reason for suggesting Warsaw is another: she wants to see an old ‘friend’.
BACKGROUND
The film is part of Charli XCX’s foray into the film industry, one of her six credits between 2025 and 2026 festival circuit. These festival trips happened just after her concert tour for her album Brat, which turned her into a cultural event, and instead of using the leverage to go the studio route, her choices on auteur work (I Want Your Sex) and small indies (The Moment) suggest someone pushing for a serious film career. Of all of those films, Erupcja might be her most unconventional yet, with no A-lister and a 10-day shooting schedule. More than that, Pete Ohs also pitched her his working method, where a script for the day is built each morning with the cast. She embraced the opportunity, not only starring but also producing the film.
THE REVIEW
The pleasure of Erupcja is watching a film that avoids telling us what to think, following the three main characters while a non-judgmental narrator (voiced by Jacek Zubiel) describes their thoughts in a calm, observational tone. It is broken into small, unnamed chapters, each marked by a color. Ohs’s unconventional method (“table of bubbles,” as he calls it) avoids the drift of most improvised films and produces a controlled, cohesive result. At 71 minutes, the film never overstays its welcome, and every minute earns its place as it develops the main dynamic and the city of Warsaw.
Having lived there for nearly a year, Ohs captures the unique charm that only locals truly perceive. Despite its grayish skies and lack of tourist attractions, Warsaw is filmed as a city free of the pressure of a famous skyline, where people can wander and recite poetry on riverbanks. A lot of the film sits on how each character sees it, which is also how we come to know them. Claude, an American artist, is proud of the view of the city he can get from his small apartment, which Rob probably dismisses as naive, the view of someone who has not been to enough European capitals. Rob himself looks at Warsaw with cynical disappointment, finding it as far from a “romantic” city as he thought it would be. For Bethany, it offers comfort, as if she can finally breathe again for the first time in years.
The performances are uniformly lived-in, and much of the film’s meaning lies in how they play off each other. Rob plays the perfect, nice boyfriend, organizing a trip through the city’s modest landmarks without noticing what Bethany would actually like. She, meanwhile, tries to play the role of the perfect girlfriend, teaching him Polish while subtly hinting that it is not what she wants, and Charli XCX admirably conveys her character’s struggle in a natural but complex performance. Not that I think Bethany’s vanishing act is justifiable, and I was as frustrated as poor Rob. But it does feel like someone hitting pause before committing to something she is not sure she wants, choosing a smaller pain now over a much bigger one later.
Such openness is the film’s highlight, especially in its third act, where characters often say things that, in other films, would be left unsaid to create narrative tension. Here, that tension is unnecessary, and the direct exchanges, complemented by the improvisational method, truly pay off.
There is a playful visual wit to the film that keeps it light on its feet and easy to watch. Ohs constantly throws quick, creative flourishes that slip character details. I particularly liked the moment where Nel keeps looking at a tree, as if she has waited there many times before, expecting Bethany to appear. When Bethany does appear, she is a few steps closer, surprising both Nel and us. Another scene holds on Bethany’s phone at 11:59 until it ticks over to 12:00 and immediately starts ringing, revealing a lot about Rob’s methodical personality. Meanwhile, Isabella Summers and Charles Watson’s electronic score, built on repeating ostinato patterns, adds a subtle tension that moves without advancing, mirroring the narrator’s patient, observational stance.
It all culminates in a conversation between Rob and Nel that reframes what the volcanic eruptions have actually meant, contradicting much of what the characters believed, and does so without melodrama. The narration that follows closes a small but deeply empathetic trip with people who, in the end, just want to figure things out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There is something generous about Erupcja. Pete Ohs and his cast have built a film that refuses to judge the people inside it, and in doing so, they make it easier for us to extend the same grace to ourselves. It is a strong step in Charli XCX’s emerging film career and her most natural performance to date. A small, funny, slightly sad observation that most of our eruptions happen inside us, and most of our volcanoes are our own.