ERUPCJA Review: Of Turning Points and Volcanoes

Turning points. We've all faced them, even if we don't realize it. Volcanos, maybe not so much.

Erupcja
The film opens in limited theatrical release on Friday, April 17, via 1-2 Special. Visit their official site for more information.

Light as a feather, Erupcja -- the titular word is Polish, which translates to "Eruption" in English -- floats like a butterfly, following a couple from London as they visit Warsaw, Poland, on the verge of a turning point in their lives.

Mount Aetna in Italy has just erupted, which serves both as the opening image in the delightful film, as well as its overriding theme. Bethany (Charli XCX) and her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) have been together for some time. For a relatively new relationship, however, they act like a longtime married couple; they are comfortable around each other, rather than dynamically charged to be in each other's company.

Their 'honeymoon phase' appears to have ended before it even began. That's perfectly alright, of course, as long as that's what each person wants and needs. And, initially, they certainly appear happy and content in their low-key, relaxed, chill comfortability.

Warsaw native Nel (Lena Góra) has inherited a flower shop from her mother, though it doesn't appear to have been her life's dream fulfilled. She's still searching for something else, so when her old girlfriend Ula (Agata Trzebuchowska) returns to town, Nel is agreeable to meeting her for a date the next night.

What Nel doesn't know is that Bethany is also back in town. The two have a shared past, though the extent of their relationship is only hinted at in the droll voiceover narration that fills in details as the story develops.

Erupcja unfolds delicately, even as it slowly transforms into something else. In essence, it rearranges the blocks of a relationship movie into an utterly enchanting and distinctive experience that is wryly thoughtful and feels very personal for the filmmaker.

Despite, or more likely, because of, having the principal actors -- Charli XCX, Lena Góra, Will Madden, and Jeremy O. Harris -- colloborating with director Pete Ohs in writing the screenplay, the dialogue never sounds artificial or stilted. Instead, it's more like an elevated conversational style, which flows with the same ease as Ohs' editing, which integrates b-roll inserts and colorful scene changes to enhance the sense of perpetual motion in the narrative. These characters are all facing turning points in their lives, and must decide whether to move forward or to go back to what they were doing before.

Because of this colloborative effort, the performances are likewise easily likable as the actors ease into their characters and enact the scenarios they themselves have concocted, together with director Pete Ohs. No scene every outstays its welcome, and likewise, the film as a whole, which runs a tidy 71 minutes.

Distinctively dry, witty, well-framed and composed, the film is entirely unpredictable. Reminding me of Eastern European New Wave films from the 60s, but also feeling mod and cool and very 'of the moment,' Erupcja is a pure delight.