TORONTO – Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” is bound to be labeled the first Charli xcx film. That’s both fair and unfair. Especially since she the pop music icon appears in “‘100 Nights of Hero’,” which just debuted at Venice and is part of “Sacrifice,” which, like “Erupcja,” is also a premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. That being said, it’s highly likely cinephiles will remember Ohs’s endeavor the most. A movie about a Brit who doesn’t really want to marry her boyfriend, her Polish childhood friend who brings out a different side of her, that boyfriend who is at a desperate loss, and an American artist in Warsaw, just happy to run into anyone who speaks English. It’s also a brisk 70 minutes with credits, meaning it never stretches its premise to overstay its welcome. It’s a little wonder of a cinematic whisper that sticks with you.
And, yes, that’s a big compliment, considering the bloated, unnecessary long epics that have dominated the world’s film festivals since the pandemic came to a close.
READ MORE: Toronto International Film Fest 2025 Preview: 35 Must-See Movies To Watch
Akin to a novella, Bethany (Charli, unsurprising screen presence) and Rob (Will Madden, killing his British accent) are taking a quick trip from the UK to Warsaw, a city that the latter has described to him a “romantic.” Nel (Lena Góra, lovely) runs a flower shop in the city and is between girlfriends. The Polish language narrator, who pops up from time to time, informs us that when Bethany was last in Poland, a volcano erupted. With airflight suspended, she spent days hanging out, partying, and exploring the city with Nel. She then returned home, and Nel hadn’t heard from her since.
Surprise, on the first night of Rob and Bethany’s visit, Mount Etna has erupted once again. Something then prompts Bethany to leave her sleeping boyfriend in bed. She shows up outside Nel’s balcony as though she’d never left, proclaiming, “This isn’t ‘Romeo and Juliet.” And another all-night adventure begins. Ohs, now a Warsaw resident, and likely Charli’s connections, demonstrates how Warsaw might be on the verge of passing a fading-fast Berlin as one of the top late-night underground cities in Europe, but we digress…
When Rob wakes up the next morning, he hasn’t a clue that Bethany has only had time to take a shower since walking through the door. As the day progresses and they are forced to extend their stay because of the eruption, Bethany subtly begins to give Rob the cold shoulder. When they meet Claude (Jeremy O. Harris) at a coffee shop, she jumps at an invitation to attend his house party that night despite Rob’s protest over dinner reservations. At the party, Nel is coincidentally there (or perhaps it is fate), and Bethany finds her faster than a heat-seeking missile. Before Rob knows it, he’s not only lost his girlfriend for another night, but days.
As Rob tries to figure out what has gone wrong (perhaps the engagement ring she found spooked her), he reaches out to Claude, who had hung out separately with the ladies earlier, genuinely unaware that Bethany had ditched him. That earlier conversation dealt with coincidences. Coincidences surrounding volcanoes, small worlds, and chance encounters. Warsaw, the eruption, and/or something in the ether has spurred a side of Bethany her boyfriend simply didn’t know existed. And, initially, that seems more painful than her ignoring his calls and texts.
On the flipside of all of this is Nel, who becomes a kindred spirit when Bethany arrives. Whether it is an unrequited love between them or a familiar bond is unclear, but Nel puts her life on hold for Bethany. She ends up closing her shop during the work week to hang out with her and blows off a concert date with an ex-girlfriend. Nel, like Rob, finds it hard to say no to her. Even when she seems intent on blowing up her seemingly pleasant life. Or perhaps that’s it. Rob, marriage, dinner reservations, and sushi dates. Maybe that’s simply too pleasant an existence for her to commit to for life.
Ohs and his four lead actors all collaborated on the story and dialogue as they filmed it (they each have writing credit). Thanks to the filmmaker’s talents in mastering different tones and his previous films of this nature, you’d never know. Maybe having Harris and Madden in the mix, two veterans of a similar process for his last movie, “The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick,” is why it never feels like an improvised production. In fact, despite a hint at a super subtle mystic connection to Mount Etna, it’s somewhat refreshing how genuine it all feels. And, frankly, the movie feels like a cinematic palate cleanser the closer it comes to its inevitable ending. And we’re certainly not mad at that. [B+/B]
