"Erupcja" with Charli xcx Burns in Fleeting Passion

Culture — 07.05.26

Words: Madeleine Cronn
Screening Photos: Matt Weinberger

 

On April 23, Charli xcx swept into the Angelika Film Center in Soho to introduce “Erupcja,” a charged, left-field turn into film that extends her creative world beyond music and into the textured language of cinema.

Photography by Matt Weinberger

Joining her were Pete Ohs, who directed the project, alongside Jeremy O. Harris and Will Madden, both of whom also appear in the film. The 71-minute feature pulses with the unruly intimacy of a true creative collective: Ohs co-wrote the screenplay with Charli, Lena Góra, Harris, and Madden, while the score comes courtesy of Charles Watson and Isabella Summers.

 

Charli praised Ohs’ creative process and noted how special it was to spend time in Warsaw creating and collaborating on this project. In a letter given out to audience members at prior “Erupcja” screenings Charli could not attend, she writes: “It’s a love letter to many things: to process, to following your heart, to Warsaw, and to the joy of making things.”

Set in the Polish capital of Warsaw, “Erupcja” (Polish for eruption) centers on a whirlwind bond between old friends Bethany (Charli XCX) and Nel (Góra)—two women who collectively decide to blow up their lives each time they get together, chasing a volcanic connection.

 

Courtesy of 1-2 Special

​When Bethany finally returns to Warsaw, this time with her adoring boyfriend Rob (Madden), the two have very different ambitions. Rob, confident and steady in his relationship with Bethany, plans to propose on the trip. Bethany, on the other hand, has come to Warsaw to run toward the part of herself that will inevitably reduce her life of stability to rubble.

 

Courtesy of 1-2 Special

Each time Bethany reconnects with Nel, a Polish flower shop owner she met in Warsaw 16 years prior, a volcano erupts, functioning as a geological excuse for the pair to dive headfirst into a passionate frenzy of selfish freedom: ditching work, relationships, and responsibility. When Bethany and Rob’s plane out of Warsaw is grounded for three days due to Mount Etna’s volcanic ash, chaos festers as Bethany and Nel careen towards their inevitable bond, imagined or otherwise. Like a wistful dream, “Erupcja” dances on the line between reality and the ethereal, holding space for a connection that feels cosmic, both vivid and hyperreal.

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Courtesy of 1-2 Special

Shot over the span of two weeks in Poland with a small and collaborative team, “Erupcja” holds the same beauty through brevity that bolsters its storyline: one of fleeting but potent moments in time. A love letter to Warsaw, the film builds a mood that’s raw, free, and airy, through handheld shots of sun cascading over apartment windows, neon nightclub lights, and wind rustling through trees lining the street.

​“Erupcja” visualizes the waking dream of vacation, away from home, where responsibilities seem far away. Every emotion is consuming, yet it doesn’t seem to register as real life—the type of attitude that can “leave perfectly good boyfriends in the dust,” as Nel says.

 

Courtesy of 1-2 Special

​The film’s strengths lie in what is not said or shown. Solid-colored monochromatic blocks flash across the screen as a form of transition just before moments of consequence create a sense of eternal mystery.

Charli XCX delivers a stripped-back and subtly captivating performance that lets her natural gravitas and magnetism carry the character of Bethany. With wry smiles and a leveling gaze, her power lies in drawing people in as she runs away. Lena Góra is fresh and intoxicating as Nel, a character whose sprite-like demeanor and quiet knowing easily position her as an enigma and the center of attention.

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Courtesy of 1-2 Special

In the film’s penultimate scene, Bethany and Nel stare at each other from across Nel’s bedroom, tears stinging their eyes. Nel perches on the bed while Bethany sits against the door, legs sprawled, reciting Lord Byron’s “Darkness” in a trancelike state. Time stands still, and the audience is pulled down into a feverish moment of true connection. We burn with them, simmering in the glow of the bedroom light as the heat rises. Then Nel says, “I am going to bed now.”

​By the time Nel wakes up, Bethany is gone.

In the end, the remains of fractured relationships dissipate into a quiet truth. Each character comes to terms with the repercussions of their actions and a reality they have finally decided to stop running from. “Erupcja” feels like a memory while it’s happening, the type of experience that never really lets you go.

Catch “Erupcja” in a theater near you, and learn more about the film online.