Emma Laird Delivers the Performance of SXSW in Satisfaction Film (Interview with Emma Laird and Director Alex Burunova)

Satisfaction at SXSW

There are films that demand your attention, and then there are films like Satisfaction – ones that slip under your skin before you realize how deeply they’ve settled. At the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival, I sat down with Emma Laird and Alex Burunova to discuss a film that hasn’t let go since I first saw it.

Though it remains one of SXSW’s quieter releases, it feels like a film that won’t stay under the radar for long. Much of that comes down to Laird’s performance as Lola, a British musician whose relationship is eroding in the quiet spaces between words. She delivers something restrained yet emotionally charged – a performance that speaks in silences rather than declarations.

Emma is shooting through the sky. It might not be in the observable universe yet, but she’s a comet. – Director Alex Burunova on Emma Laird.

For Burunova, Satisfaction was never just a film; it was a decade-long act of translation – turning personal experience into cinema. Originally written as a stage play, it evolved over 110 drafts, with hundreds of watercolour storyboards shaping its intimate visual language. The result is a film that feels deeply lived-in, balancing meticulous composition with space for organic, unforced performances.

At its core, though, Satisfaction belongs to Laird. Her presence is inescapable – not because she demands attention, but because the film rests in her silences, her shifts in posture, the weight of her internal world. When I spoke with her at SXSW, it was clear that playing Lola had left something with her – just as watching her had left something with me.

(read my full review of Satisfaction)

The Production of Satisfaction

For Alex Burunova, Satisfaction wasn’t just about telling a story – it was about reclaiming one.

The project began as a theatre piece, but over time, she realized she was unintentionally writing her own history. “It was something that happened to me… I wanted to have a story with a beginning, middle, and end where I could understand it from every perspective.” What followed was a ten-year journey of revision and refinement – over 110 drafts and hundreds of watercolour storyboards, each one shaping the film’s delicate emotional language.

There was a freedom in how Alex shot. It was like, “Let’s roll the cameras and see what happens.” I don’t know how she did it, but it really allowed the actors to feel free, not like, “Okay, action,” then “Cut.” – Emma Laird on Director Alex Burunova

Shot largely on location in Greece, the setting becomes an extension of Lola’s internal landscape. The wide-open spaces, bathed in sunlight, contrast sharply with the claustrophobic weight of her silence. Working closely with cinematographer Máté Herbai, Burunova crafted a visual style that feels intimate yet distant, allowing the film to breathe while never fully letting the audience escape its emotional grip.

The search for Lola proved to be one of the film’s greatest challenges. The role demanded an actor who could hold the camera’s gaze without saying much at all – someone whose stillness could speak louder than dialogue. It wasn’t until producer Kyle Stroud insisted Burunova watch Emma Laird’s dailies from The Brutalist that she found what she was looking for. “We watched her dailies for four hours – every take was a new, exciting choice,” Burunova recalled. That night, over dinner, she made the offer – no audition necessary.

Collaboration Between Actor and Director

For Emma Laird, playing Lola in Satisfaction meant stepping into something deeply personal – a character navigating the invisible tension in a relationship, the kind of dynamic that’s felt more than spoken. When she first read the script, the weight of it was overwhelming. “I read the bit with the ‘big thing’ that happens… and I just broke down and cried for the rest of the script.” That was her first reaction – the second was realizing she had to take this on.

Alex Burunova wanted that same instinctive energy to drive the entire production. She had Laird and Fionn Whitehead (Philip) live together before filming, ensuring that their relationship was grounded and rooted in lived experience. Laird also took piano lessons for months, making sure that Lola’s music felt like a natural extension of her.

Burunova’s refusal to let scenes feel too structured also helped shape the film’s unsettling realism. “There was a scene in the taxi where we just drove around London, and she didn’t call cut. At the time, I was so frustrated… but because she kept the camera rolling, you end up exploring more, and the film is better for it.” That approach gave Laird something rare – the ability to stop thinking about performing and just exist in the moment. It’s this naturalism that makes Satisfaction so unnerving. Nothing about Lola’s pain feels staged, which makes her experience that much more impactful.

Emma’s Performance & Rising Star Quality

Emma Laird as Audrey in The Brutalist | IMDb
With Satisfaction, Emma Laird proves that she’s not just an emerging talent – she’s a leading actress in the making. While her role in The Brutalist put her on the radar, this performance solidifies her as one of the most compelling actors on the rise.

Laird’s approach to Lola is striking in its restraint. She doesn’t rely on overly heightened emotion or grand, dramatic moments. Instead, she builds her performance on silences, micro-expressions, and the weight of everything left unsaid. From its earliest scenes, Satisfaction subverts traditional gendered power dynamics, flipping the conventional depictions of male sexual dominance. This sets the stage for the film’s deeper exploration of power—both in relationships and within the self. Lola’s journey is ultimately about gradually recognizing and dismantling the forces within her relationship.

This is what makes Laird’s work here so captivating – she understands that Lola’s power comes from reclaiming herself. “So much of what you see on screen is real,” Laird said. “There was so much frustration in Lola, and that was just my frustration, too.” That rawness gives Satisfaction its emotional weight, and with this film, Laird signals that she’s ready for bigger, more demanding roles – and it’s clear that Hollywood is taking notice (more on that later).

The Visual Language of Satisfaction and ‘The Scene’

Few films understand the power of stillness the way Satisfaction does. Alex Burunova and Mate Herbai craft a visual language that places the audience inside Lola’s suffocating emotional space, using framing and architecture to mirror her unraveling.

The film’s compositional choices are deliberate. Lola is often shot from above or placed low in the frame, making her appear small, contained, powerless. Philip, by contrast, is often framed from below, his presence dominating the space. When Elena (Zar Amir) enters, the dynamic shifts – she is filmed with a commanding presence, a striking contrast to Lola’s shrinking world, hinting at the possibility of reclamation lying ahead.

The visual language of the film was very important to me because I’m an artist, too; I paint and went to art school. I’d been painting storyboards for the film for five years—hundreds and hundreds of stills. – Alex Burunova on the visual language of Satisfaction

But everything leads to the scene – the moment that defines Satisfaction. A single, unbroken take, holding on Lola’s face, refusing to cut away. “The scene hasn’t changed since I wrote it,” Burunova explained. “I painted one storyboard – it’s her face, and that’s it.” There’s no movement, no relief. The shot forces the audience into her isolation and devastation.

What makes this moment even more brutal is its lack of a traditional score. Midori Hirano’s compositions throughout the film are jagged and haunting, reflecting Lola’s fractured psyche. But here, the silence is overwhelming, and Emma Laird felt the weight of it while performing. “It goes on much longer than you think it will,” she explained. “You have to sit through it, and I think there’s a real power to that.” The camera never flinches, because it doesn’t need to—Laird carries everything in her expression, where, as she put it, “it’s all in the eyes. It’s what’s happening in the moment.”

What’s Next for Emma Laird and Alex Burunova?

At SXSW, Satisfaction stands out not just for its haunting story and evocative cinematography but because of Emma Laird’s career-best performance. This is the kind of film that cements an actor’s place in the industry – and Laird has more than proven she’s ready for it.

During our discussion, I asked both Emma and Alex what projects they had coming up. Laird, after quickly glancing to the back of the room for clearance, confirmed that there’s even more that she could only share off-the-record. Still, what has already been announced publicly is enough to solidify her meteoric rise.

For starters, Emma will be working alongside actors including:

Laird will also have a role in the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Neuromancer”, alongside Callum Turner, Peter Sarsgaard, and Briana Middleton.

As for Alex Burunova, her next project, Sunrise Over the Himalayas, is a Buddhist dramedy exploring female empowerment, which is also rooted in her own lived experiences. This time, though, she will be exploring familial rather than romantic relationships. Regardless, it is sure to harness her ability to tell deeply personal yet universally resonant stories. Burunova also has a third project in pre-production, which is yet to be named, but will be set in Japan.

Ultimately, if Satisfaction is any indication, we’ll be talking about both Burunova and Laird for years to come.