'Erupcja' Review
- Tiffany McLaughlin
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 05/01/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Comedy. Drama. Romance.
MPAA: Not Rated.
Distributor: 1-2 Special.
The Verdict: A Maybe
Nel, a flower shop owner in Warsaw, Poland, senses something is off around her. Unaware that her old friend Bethany has just arrived in town with boyfriend Rob in tow, underlying tension begins to unfold when Bethany discovers that Rob plans to propose on the trip. She tracks down Nel, whom she hasn't spoken to in years, and they reconnect their severed bond.
This is my first time seeing Lena Gora, and I might be obsessed with her. She made Nel so effortlessly cool and endearing. Also, I want Jeremy O. Harris to have his own show as Claude, following his artistic adventures in Poland. And while I will always be sat for a Charli role, as she is so natural on the screen, I felt like the film didn't really let her shine in the way I felt was promised from the start. With that being said, I also really liked Will Madden as Rob. He reeled me in from the jump and made me root for him.
I love indie films that keep the cinematography simple, but in no way boring. Every shot is visually intriguing while being intentional and efficient. There’s a scene in the middle of the film where Bethany and Nel are on a balcony the morning after being out all night. It's so simple and probably whatever to most people, but I could just feel the temperature of the air. The shot is composed in such a way that I felt like I was on the balcony with them.
While I really enjoyed following these characters around town, I was left waiting for the fun to begin. When the symbolism of volcanoes is established, I was expecting this to veer into the dark comedy buddy energy of the 1966 Czech movie Daises. Nothing really gets to a tipping point, it just kinda fizzles out in the middle. What we get is totally fine, but when you have a title like "Erupjca", I expect shit to hit the fan. If you were to title this film more accurately to its execution I would go with something like "Absorpcja".
