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Erupcja: Charli XCX shines in quirky film debut

The online video poker trainerBrat singer isn't the first pop star to turn to big-screen acting, but she has made an "auspicious start" that demonstrates a "commitment to cinema".

While fans of her music were obsessing over Brat last summer (the album that became a cultural meme), and cheering her five wins at the Brit awards in March, Charli XCX was quietly building a career as a film actress. She has already shot roles in seven features, and three of them are landing at this autumn's film festivals. She has small roles in two large ensemble pieces. One Hundred Nights of Hero, a Scheherazade-like gay romance starring Emma Corrin, will be shown at the Venice Film Festival, and Sacrifice, an eco-themed satire starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. But the most notable film for her is Erupcja, which has just premiered at Toronto. Here she is the main character – and her choice of roles is telling. Erupcja is not mainstream or musical, but a small, arty film that signals a serious commitment to cinema.

Charli plays Bethany, who is in Warsaw on holiday with her boyfriend, Rob (Will Madden), and who is there with a secret plan. She wants to reconnect with Nel (Lena Gora), an old friend and possibly lover, before she decides whether to marry Rob. It's a cagey little film that keeps you guessing. Playing the unglamorous Bethany, the actress is believable and a far cry from the brash, confident Charli XCX of stage, music videos and TikTok.

It not unusual for musicians to turn to acting, of course. Lady Gaga made a big splash in A Star is Born in 2018 and went on to win praise for her non-musical role in House of Gucci in 2021. A$AP Rocky is dynamic in Spike Lee's current film Highest 2 Lowest, holding his own in sinister confrontations with Denzel Washington's character.

What sets Charli's trajectory apart are her intriguing choices. All three of her festival titles are independent films, and quirky. Erupcja is the quirkiest of all, on screen and off. The director, Pete Ohs, uses a production process he calls a "table of bubbles", building films out of almost nothing but ideas and collaboration. He starts with an outline, rehearses with actors contributing their characters' lines, and shoots over just two weeks. A break after the first week's shoot allows them to assess what they've done and plan the next stretch. That quick turnaround makes it easier to fit into a pop star's packed schedule, but it's also the kind of creative risk not every musician or actor would embrace.

The film is definitely slight and elliptical, running only one hour and 10 minutes. And at first it seems that all Charli has to do is not be Charli XCX, but an ordinary woman wondering about her future. But Erupcja is wily, and as Bethany begins to grapple with her relationship with Nel, nuances sneak up on us. A voiceover tells us that Bethany and Nel forged a bond during Bethany's frequent trips to Warsaw, but the film never defines that relationship as more than a friendship that Bethany dropped. When they meet again and spend time together, the scene cuts away or goes to black whenever it seems that something sexual might happen. We have to surmise a lot that the screenplay refuses to say, and Charli effectively conveys longing, questioning and heartbreak without a word. It is a strong dramatic performance in a film that is more satisfying than it promises to be at first.

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Coming up, Charli has supporting roles in other independent films, still awaiting distributors and release dates. I Want Your Sex is an erotic thriller starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, and directed by Gregg Araki, an icon of queer cinema. The Gallerist is another thriller, about an art-world scheme, staring Jenna Ortega and Natalie Portman.

The film closest to home in several ways is The Moment, based on an idea of Charli's. She reportedly plays a pop star preparing for a tour, with Alexander Skarsg?rd and Rosanna Arquette as characters in her orbit. Her production company is behind it, along with A24, the powerful company whose films include the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. They plan to release it next year. Some of these films may have more mainstream allure than Erupcja, but that sly little indie is an auspicious start to a new strand of Charli's career.

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