SXSW '26: Emily Robinson Talks Ugliness of Perfection in Ugly Cry
This interview was originally published on Film Obsessive.
Writer, director, producer, and star of the SXSW-premiering Ugly Cry, Emily Robinson describes her directorial debut as “not body horror, but it is a film about the horror of having a body.” Ugly Cry is one of those movies where a small, seemingly innocuous comment causes an avalanche. Robinson plays an actor, Delaney, who is told by a producer that she has an ugly crying face. Delaney, who was already in a precarious place emotionally, spirals forever downward in pursuit of the impossible image of perfection.
In 2023, Robinson wrote her debut novel, Consumed, about a young person on a journey of self-discovery with a touch of cannibalism. Ugly Cry offers a similar conceit of a young woman trying to make sense of her place in the world and how it turns into something horror-adjacent.
“Body horror is just a really good metaphor. It’s a good way to get into things that feel really internal and difficult to externalize. Consumed was always somewhat body horror, but it was pushed by my writer mentor further into the horror world than I initially wrote it.”
“I find having a body to be kind of a crazy thing. I’m constantly horrified by being perceived and existing. I think for a narrative, you often have to take it where the story wants to go. Sometimes that’s hard to write. Sometimes that’s the part that feels scary. You kind of have to push yourself to be like, no, no, you need to go to the place for yourself, for the audiences.”
Robinson’s Delaney is a friend of and in competition with Ryan Simpkins’ Maya. The two are in the same acting class and Maya often jokes that they always go for the same roles. It’s both a joke and an insight into their insecurities. How close can you get to someone who’s your direct competitor? The answer for Robinson and Simpkins in real life is much different than it is for their characters in the film.
“It started out improvised with Ryan and me filming things in my apartment and their apartment. Finding our characters, finding the world. We started filming before there was ever a script. That footage…no one had seen. We got rid of it. My producers have not seen it. They’ve asked and I’ve said, no, thank you, no one needs to see my cinematography. It wasn’t meant to be improvised and we ultimately benefited very much from going in and actually writing it.”
“Because it was written, it allowed us to assemble a team of people who could elevate it and turn it into the film that it should become. Those scenes that we improvised later were written down and evolved into the movie that we have today.”
Robinson wears an immense number of hats for this film. Writer, director, producer, and star. Any one of those is a full-time job, but the challenges of these roles never weighed Robinson down.
“I love this. This is the best. Writing is my forever love. I love reading and writing. It’s very comforting to be able to construct a story. Acting is so fun because you just get to throw everything away and be present in the moment. That’s something that in regular life I can struggle with, so it’s really fun to force myself to exist and embody a moment.”
“Directing is the best because you get to find wonderful people who are incredibly talented, who you respect and want to spend time with, work with, and collaborate with. You bring them together, and then they want to chat with you and talk about what you think, and you get to be like, what do you think? Then you keep talking and it’s great. I love yapping with people about art. This is what we get to do for a career. Let’s keep going forever, please.”
Robinson has been working in film and television since she was seven years old. Over the course of these twenty years, she has worked in commercials, film, tv, and theater. It’s safe to assume that Robinson’s directorial voice and presence are influenced by all the directors she’s worked with over the years.
“I’ve been on sets that felt very uncreative and uncooperative and sets that felt very creative and collaborative. The reason I wanted to get into directing was to create spaces that felt like, oh yeah, we all want to make this movie. How do we all elevate this?”
“Obviously, you still need structure. You still need a container for that creativity, but my hope with directing is to create a sense of play and artist community.”
Courtesy of Brody S. Anderson
Throughout the film, Delaney periodically babysits for a wealthy couple. The audience learns that the mother of the kids is the lead of a procedural crime show when Ugly Cry makes a short pivot to one of the scenes from a recent episode. For a few moments, the entire visual language of Ugly Cry changes and it’s like you’re watching Law and Order.
“I’m so happy you mentioned the TV show because I have to say that was, I think, every person on our production’s favorite scene to film. It was our editor’s favorite scene to edit. We had too much fun with that. Our producer, Pablo Feldman, is the guy in that scene. Our other producer, Sophia Sabella, is the dead body in the ditch.”
Aside from it being a fun day on set, Robinson chose to include a procedural because of their prevalence in the industry. The inclusion of this scene and the character played by Morris is to show Delaney a different side of the industry that she clearly also wants.
“I really wanted it to be a standard procedural where they’re saying things that are kind of silly, and yet it acts as a stable career for this woman. She’s gained recognition for it, right? I wanted to show that what Delaney yearns for isn’t necessarily just art. It’s security. It’s prestige. It’s the ability to sustainably exist as an actor. I didn’t want it to be that this woman was an Oscar nominee. She’s a working actor.”
“There are so many stupid, stupid scripts that you read and sides for auditions, and you’re like, oh my God,” Robinson groans. “I just wanted to give representation to that. Having to perform in earnest and really care about terrible scripts is kind of funny sometimes.”
Delaney is auditioning for a horror movie during the film. It’s a scene that requires her to scream, cry, and then die. It’s a lot to ask of someone to self-tape in their bedroom. Yet it’s the reality for many working actors.
“For the main audition scene, I wanted it to be something that felt like it could be twisted to be close enough to her real life. Rather, something she could twist herself into. Also, ultimately be something equally elevated and absurd. Like when she dies at the end, it’s always kind of like, what is happening, what is this movie? I wanted her to feel like, oh, this could be the next Twilight, this could be the next thing. Or also it could be a really bad movie that no one ever sees. We don’t know as the viewer.”
In a few short days, Robinson will be heading to Austin with some cast and crew to celebrate the world premiere of Ugly Cry. It’s hard to tell if Robinson is more excited about her film’s premiere or the fact that she’s finally made it to Austin.
“I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Austin and I’ve wanted to go for so long. I cannot wait. I’ve wanted to do SXSW. I’ve also wanted to go to the Austin Grand Prix. I love F1. I’ve been trying to get to Austin for too long. I don’t even know if I’ll have time for half the things this week. We’re just going to be doing so much with the movie. I have to plan another trip soon.”
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