Satisfaction review: A superlative elegy about bisexuality and trauma

An audiovisual mood board of cool, faded tones has been built around Emma Laird’s [pictured above and below] pristine blue eyes in Satisfaction, which traces a withdrawn British woman working through her past on an off-season Greek island. Glasses of orange juice all but break the spell of the washed-out greys and blues that envelop the dreamlike cliffside retreat in which her character, Lola, finds herself, her rubbed-out identity reframed and exposed by bare surroundings.

Directed and written with clear authenticity by Alex Burunova, the film, playing at this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, opens with an unusually thoughtful trigger warning, with typography in upper and lower case and two stylised fonts, so small you may need to lean in to read it, warning first of “unhealthy relationships” and only then of “depictions of violence”, granting the former an unsettling precedence. Layered, rhythmic vocalisations add to the unease; mercifully, they only briefly recall the skittish and now-unlistenable theme tunes of The White Lotus. Otherwise, the film’s magnificent score, gliding from ethereal grace to creeping concern – but always with soft reticence – reinforces the specificity of story.

Lola (a remarkable Laird) and her ‘softboi’ boyfriend Phillip (an unassuming Fionn Whitehead, pictured below) are musicians, after all, and ones whose romantic and creative fusion has propelled them to the kind of success that makes a writers’ retreat on a sprawling, ocean-facing property something to be coolly nonplussed about. There is, however, no wind in the relationship’s sails at present. Lola instead drifts listlessly around the island, processing painful memories and humbling, mind-bending natural beauty, metaphorically treading water, but on the precipice of change. You find yourself craving a trip abroad, and the personal growth it might encourage, as you watch.

The gently spoken Phillip, meanwhile – the less talented of the two – is quietly shrinking. When Lola cuts off her hair as if to tap into her past self, you initially feel for him and his puppy dog face, but a genuinely surprising plot twist disorientates that with astronomical impact. In this way, Satisfaction is a reminder of the psychological power of film.

Flashbacks to Lola and Phillip’s more lively life in London make up about a third of the film. Its only flaw is the limited focus on Lola’s prior relationship with a woman, Angela, played nonetheless with striking presence by Adwoa Aboah: a huge name in modelling who, one imagines, had only limited availability for filming.

The film’s other supporting character, then – a flirty local named Elena, who captures Lola’s eye on a gorgeous nude beach – is more fleshed out to compensate, with actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi [pictured below] exuding calmness, kindness and friendly vitality.

In the case of any problematic doubt, Satisfaction, despite being a film predominantly about a mixed-sex relationship, with reduced focus on same-sex relationships, is a powerful and truly refreshing queer experience. It wears its bisexual energy on its sleeve, with subjects like biphobic lesbians, the heteroflexibility of straight men and the opening of relationships touched on with piercing sophistication and expression.

But the main focus is a universal one: trauma. That said, it doesn’t bludgeon you over the head with it. Satisfaction may overlap thematically, and in its refined tonal quality, with the excellent but relentless Kristen Stewart-directed The Chronology of Water. But otherwise, it’s a different viewing experience entirely, and one that’s often oddly pleasant. Half the time, you feel as if you’re hanging out with Lola. Which, perhaps, makes its eventual emotional impact all the more tidal.

Indeed, despite the heavy subject matter, this is a film full of artistic gifts that make the soul sing. Among them: a moped exhaust rendered musical. A shot of the London skyline unrecognisable in its prettiness. A lovers’ embrace half-lit in dappled sunlight. Lola’s reflection in a mirror obscured by condensation. Lola’s fingers tinkering in the wind, as if playing an imaginary piano. Arresting lines of dialogue (like “I have this thing where I have to try everything twice;” in Lola’s case, this includes heroin) are unignorable. My favourite detail, however, is a key conversation that lands like a sucker punch because you can’t hear the dialogue. Satisfaction is an overwhelming, healing, and extremely satisfying journey.

Satisfaction is playing as part of the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, running from 18–29 March 2026.

This review first appeared in Attitude Uncut, the all-new digital magazine published six times a year (between Attitude print issues) and available exclusively on Apple News+ and via the Attitude app. Featuring long-read journalism inspired by themes resonating within the LGBTQ+ community, each issue will provide a deep dive into topics as varied as sexuality, identity, health, relationships and beyond.