Although Satisfaction isn’t always an easy film to watch, it remains steeped in uncomfortable beauty even at its darkest moments.

In writer-director Alex Burunova’s feature debut, Emma Laird and Fionn Whitehead star as couple Lola and Philip, two British composers struggling to get through a block in both their creative and romantic lives while vacationing on the Greek Isles. Meanwhile, memories of the beginning of their relationship and the introduction of beautiful tourist Elena (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) snaps Lola out of her haze.

Laird gives a stunning performance as Lola, a once-thriving musician who can’t make music anymore, blocked by an unspoken trauma. The actress alternates seamlessly between two timelines; one as a young queer artist high on life and obsessed with the idea of “synthesizing love” so she can take it every day, another as an emotionally exhausted woman struggling to connect with her partner, and more importantly,...