(Check out Chris Reed’s Erupcja movie review, it opened April 17, 2026 in theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
In Erupcja, director Pete Ohs (Jethica) crafts a lyrical ode to free spirits in which romantic love is secondary to passion. Until the end, when it triumphs. For some. The joy of the movie is that whatever transpires is wholly unexpected and, for the most part, narratively delightful, an eruption of cinematic creativity worthy of the new-wave movements it channels.
Nel (short for Nelka)—played by Lena Góra (Roving Woman)—lives in Warsaw and runs a flower shop. When her sister stops by and mentions that Ula (Agata Trzebuchowska), Nel’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, has just returned to Poland, the news is greeted with apparent indifference. But in the scenes that follow, we see Nel hanging out, by herself, in various spots around the city. It seems like she could use a companion of some sort.
Meanwhile, two Brits, Bethany (Charli XCX) and Rob (Will Madden, Love and Work), arrive in Warsaw for what the latter hopes will be a trip laden with amorous opportunity. In particular, he hopes to propose. Why Warsaw? Because it’s a place to which Bethany has traveled many times before and it is, she assures Rob, far more romantic than Paris (his original choice). Little does he know, poor guy, that she has a specific agenda in coming here.
For it seems that Nel and Bethany have a bond, dating to adolescence (when Bethany first came to Warsaw). Every time they meet, sparks fly. Quite literally, in fact, as a volcano erupts somewhere in the world upon their reunion. This time, on schedule, it’s Sicily’s Mount Etna.
While Rob—portrayed here by Madden as a fairly ordinary, almost boring, if nice, guy—struggles to keep the excursion on track, Bethany sneaks out at night to meet Nel. Whether or not theirs is a sexual relationship is never directly addressed. But it’s certainly all-consuming and, in Bethany’s case, rather selfish: not only does she ditch Rob, but she inadvertently gets in the way of Bel and Ula reconciling.
Ohs shoots and edits the movie in a peppy style that evokes Truffaut and Godard in their younger years, mixing overhead compositions and sudden shifts in color with more standard mise-en-scène. His choice of almost-ironic male narrator (who speaks in Polish) adds to our simultaneous emotional distance from the narrative and deep involvement in its progress. It’s hard to look away from the evolving mess, but we also don’t feel too bad about it, so light is the tone of the affair.
At just 71 minutes, Erupcja never has a chance to disappoint with its mixed moods. The ending is a little underdeveloped, but still fairly satisfying. The lava may cool, but the memory of its warming heat continues to linger long afterwards.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
