Colin (Harry Melling) leads a humdrum existence until he meets the impossibly handsome Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), a mysterious biker he is soon desperately devoted to. As Colin submits to Ray and enters an exciting new world of desire, he must decide the limits of his devotion.
Hilarious, subversive and sexy, Pillion is the acclaimed and surprisingly tender love story from writer-director Harry Lighton, starring Melling and Skarsgård in fearless performances as a mild young man and his leather-clad lover.
The Garden Cinema View:
On paper, Pillion looks like a story about a sadomasochistic relationship within a fringe queer subculture. But, much like The Duke of Burgundy, its transgressive surface gives way to a moving study of connection and - of course - an ode to queer desire.
The film is playful and dryly funny, especially in the contrast between the assured dom and the inexperienced sub - an impossibly handsome Alexander Skarsgård paired with an ever-blushing Harry Melling. It’s easy to imagine its lines or moments turning into viral memes, much like the buzz around Babygirl.
Although there's building suspense about how this relationship will develop and what Skarsgård's character is really like underneath, in a last-minute U-turn, Pillion proves most interested in the main protagonist's empowering sexual self-actualization rather than delving further into psychology.
Pillion premiered at Cannes to strong critical acclaim.
