Erupcja Review (2026 Manchester Film Festival)
It’s so confusing sometimes to be a girl. One woman trying to make sense of the female experience is pop superstar Charli XCX. She made waves after collaborating with her perceived rival Lorde. Their song ‘Girl, so confusing’ allowed the two musicians to work through their differences and examine the industry comparisons, insecurities, and jealousy behind their decade-long feud. In doing so, they were able to better understand themselves and each other, reshaping their public narrative into what appears, from the outside, to be an honest and meaningful friendship. This is part of what makes Brat, Charli’s world-famous album, so special, as it holds a mirror up to a society that pits women and girls against each other and encourages them toward lifestyles and beauty standards that can cause them to lose themselves in the noise.
Pete Ohs’s newest film, Erupcja, shot chronologically over two weeks in Poland, follows Bethany (XCX) and her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) on a small holiday to Warsaw, a city Bethany has previously spent a lot of time in. Upon introduction, as the pair wander through local art museums and eats at popular restaurants, they seem like any other bland domestic tourists. That is, until Bethany hears of the eruption of Mount Etna, which prompts her to seek out her old friend and florist, Nel (Lena Gòra). Once reunited with Nel, Bethany makes a series of impulsive decisions, including cancelling plans and ditching her boyfriend to go clubbing through the night, which crumbles her illusion of the happiness she shares with Rob. We watch as Bethany makes a series of personal revelations, leaving destruction in her wake.
Ohs is an unconventional filmmaker who credits his actors as writers and works with a very small cast and crew. He allows his actors to work collaboratively with him, a process he likens to jamming with a band. His lead actresses, Charli and Lena, naturally form the lived-in and easy chemistry of best friends, which lends the movie its intimate sensibilities. The film explores the unknowable and powerful connection between the two women, which formed when Bethany bought flowers for herself from Nel while on a school trip, and the mystifying forces at play that periodically draw them back together. There’s an early sequence in the film, when Bethany slips away from her boyfriend and stalks Nel through the streets of Warsaw as she makes her way home from work. It’s an example of Ohs unobtrusive storytelling, in which he allows us to read Bethany’s motivations for ourselves and look for the real reasons she has returned to Poland.
The film includes brief but intimate narration—voiced by Jacek Zubiel—which reveals the character’s innermost thoughts and feelings. With this proximity to each character’s internal revelations, we better understand their behaviour as we move through the movie. This also contributes to the film’s overarching dreamscape aesthetic. Ohs pairs this narration with boxy cinematography, meaning the constrained framing lends the visuals a sense of claustrophobia, as though Bethany is confined not only within the frame but within her own uncertainty. This, coupled with the film’s sharp, ethereal score and colourful imagery of active volcanoes, helps to build an otherworldly atmosphere in which the story feels like a hazily remembered memory or dream
The volcanic motif running throughout the film creates a wealth of subtext, particularly regarding the tumultuous, incandescent and awe-inspiring nature of female friendship and connection. Bethany and Nel view their friendship as something running in conjunction to volacinc eurruptions around the world. Their meetings are destructive, as they run away from their jobs, partners and responsibilities when their paths cross. Yet, their friendship is immensely powerful, and from the ashes of their destruction also comes rebirth. In their shared time together, Bethany contemplates her relationship and the fear she has surrounding Rob’s imminent proposal, describing him to Nel as ‘nice, but boring’. The film examines these eruptions from all sides, considering the big, life-changing revelations we have in life and their potential to hurt those around us. Having learned of the girls’ affinity with volcanic activity, Rob does the math and discovers volcanic eruptions are more common than you’d think. This again speaks to the female experience, in that the emotions, anxieties and complexities of girlhood can feel like isolated experiences, when they are actually much more ordinary than they seem.
Erupcja is an extraordinary film, full of profound ideas and sublime artistry. It’s the kind of film you want to float around in and take time examining each idle conversation and subtle truth. Charli XCX delivers a more subdued performance than you might expect, removed from the lime-green, Brat-tinged lens through which we have seen her perform so far, she reveals an unseen and unexpected side of herself.
★★★★
Screened at the 2026 Manchester Film Festival on March 21st and 28th, Releasing Spring 2026 / Charli XCX, Lena Gora, Jeremy O Harris, Will Madden/ Dir: Pete Ohs / Vertigo Releasing / TBC
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
About the Author
