60/100
Somehow got the impression that this was a Charli XCX vanity project related to Brat, so was disarmed when it turned out to be an Academy-ratio indie set in Warsaw (featuring extensive Polish dialogue, plus it's the first time I've seen Agata Trzebuchowska since she played the title role in Ida) and seemingly ghostwritten by Woody Allen. And, like, decent late Allen—the omniscient third-person narrator and clash of tourists/locals recall Vicky Cristina Barcelona, though there's a bit of Rainy Day in New York (but better) when Bethany, aware that her "too nice" boyfriend's about to propose, abruptly ditches him for the duration of their trip. Charli (guess I should call her that rather than XCX) gives a real performance, at times beautifully layered; I laughed aloud when Nel asks Bethany "Who is your boyfriend?" and Charli somehow puts a mortified stink on the name "Rob," like Bethany can't fucking believe she's dating a Rob. Wasn't familiar with former Polish Equivalent Of The Oscar nominee Lena Góra but she's likewise quite good, and the savvy choice not to precisely define Bethany and Nel's recurring relationship, which may or may not be or once have been sexual, provides a welcome friction (as opposed to seemingly cowardly, as might have been the case 30 years ago). Erupcja—I also dig the Polish title, its meaning pretty clear to English speakers—meanders pleasantly, accumulating flavorful moments and scenes, until it eventually starts to become obvious that the actors and director are more or less making the movie up as they go along, with all the recent-Hong-style retrospective half-assery that this creative method generally involves (if you're actually shooting as you go rather than generating ideas for a script to be written later, aka Mike Leigh's Exception); the film doesn't land anywhere terribly satisfying, and too little gets made of its titular metaphor (in theory a critique of the destructively romantic notion that True Love = Wobbly Knees When (S)he Enters The Room, For Life). At just 71 minutes, though, it's not a movie that's gonna make you feel as if you wasted your time just because it stops more than concludes. And I think Charli may be an actor.