REVIEW: 'Erupcja' Burns Bright Thanks To A Stellar Debut From Charli XCX

Pete Ohs’ Erupcja is a film that sneaks up on you—quietly charming, deceptively simple, and yet full of inventive quirks that make it linger in the mind long after its brisk 76-minute runtime. The film follows a young London couple on a trip to Warsaw, where unexpected encounters lead to the rekindling of a passionate friendship and the kind of emotional discoveries that test both love, companionship and identity.

The film marks Charli XCX’s feature debut, and she carries herself with remarkable ease. Known worldwide as a pop star, she steps into the role of a woman caught between emotional unrest and the desire to break free, playing her character in a refreshingly grounded, unglamorous fashion. There’s no pop sheen or glossy veneer here, just a woman reckoning with life, friendship, and connection in ways that feel authentic. It’s an impressive turn, nuanced and layered, and it shows Charli’s faith in the project as a performer and as a producer. That dual role adds weight: she clearly believed in Erupcja as more than a star vehicle, and it pays off.

Pete Ohs has carved out a reputation for loose, collaborative filmmaking, and that approach thrives here. The cast—including Will Madden as Rob, and Lena Gora as Nel—shares writing credits with Ohs, underscoring the improvisational texture. Rather than feeling scattered, though, this spontaneity brings warmth and humor, especially through the voiceover format, which both grounds the narrative and adds surprising charm. Madden’s performance deserves mention too: his Rob may come across as a typical boyfriend in the early going, but by the end, he has grown on the audience. He becomes not only sympathetic but integral to the emotional balance of the story.

Technically, Erupcja is as polished as it is intimate. The editing is sharp, giving the film a breezy pace, while the color grading enhances its Warsaw setting with vivid contrasts—sometimes melancholy, sometimes playful. Ohs and his team make the city a character in itself, a backdrop that reflects the shifting dynamics of love, memory, and possibility. Despite its brevity, the film feels distilled, like a personal note passed between friends. There is still a sense of something more that was left unexplored and Ohs could've dug deeper here. He also isn't trying to be too ambitious or take swings here, which I think he should've done.

Erupcja is inventive, offbeat, and heartfelt, a drama that rewards patience and attention. It may be small in scale, but it pulses with creativity and confidence. With Charli XCX lined up for bigger mainstream projects in the near future, this debut feels like a fitting prologue—a signal of her range and promise as a performer. There is an underlying theme of volcanoes in tthe movie and somehow Charli feels like a volcano waiting to erupt.

Rating: ★★★½

About Erupcja

Premiere Date: TBD

Director: Pete Ohs

Producers: Pete Ohs, Jeremy O. Harris, Josh Godfrey, Luke Arreguin, Charli XCX

Writers: Pete Ohs, Charli XCX, Lena Gora, Jeremy O. Harris

Cast: Charli XCX, Lena Gora, Jeremy O. Harris, Will Madden