Pillion Review

I will be master of what is mine own.

Harry Lighton’s Pillion is a wonderful reminder that love comes in many different forms and dynamics. It can be weird, funny, and overwhelming. Pillion taps into something truly special in the discovery of ourselves and what we like in this world. This is a surprisingly heartwarming tale that I found myself completely wrapped up in, and by the end, possibly even wrapped up in leather. Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård, as our unlikely couple, complement each other in wondrous ways, leading to hilarious and gutwrenching tension, as all relationships do, no matter the situation. Yes, yes, yes, you enter the world of a Gay Biker BDSM group, which does indeed rock, but what I think at the center is capturing the comfort in identity that so many wish they could claim. There is comfort in domination.

Pillion follows Colin (Harry Melling), who’s a shy gay man living in Bromley, London, with his parents. His world gets flipped upside down when he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), who’s an older hot biker with whom he begins a strict BDSM relationship. Colin does all the cooking and chores and doesn’t even sleep in the same bed as Ray, but in return receives an intense sexual relationship that’s consensual and exciting. Colin starts becoming a part of this punk biker group and loves this dynamic with Ray, but life starts to get in the way. Feelings get big, and will these two be able to make it?

I adored the relationship between Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård. Melling’s introversion, sweetness, and naivety play perfectly into entering this strict and intense world of BDSM. Still, I was completely bought in by his wide-eyed excitement and the pleasure he experienced from it. We, the audience, are experiencing this new world that most don’t understand at the same time as Melling, and he completely sells why it would be enticing, awkward, and funny to those inexperienced. A detail I appreciated was that Melling has a shitty job giving parking tickets and is constantly berated for it. Still, when things are going so well for him in this new relationship, he reaches a point of nirvana that puts a big smile on my face. Skarsgård is indeed very hot in the picture, but he has a difficult job here, being this dominatrix on screen without ever being unfair to the dynamic agreed upon. It’s not a toxic, dominating relationship; it’s what Melling craves and enjoys, and what I love is that Skarsgård holds onto this level of respect for Melling, always and true, caring for this person. The dynamic is supposed to look, on the surface, unfair, or why would anyone ever want to be in something like this? Still, as a discussion later in the film shows, when Melling’s mother, played brilliantly by Lesley Sharp, confronts Skarsgård about his behavior, he breaks it down perfectly, saying that Melling likes this and that just because it’s not the societal “normal” relationship doesn’t make it wrong. Those casting doubt come from a place of ignorance.

One of the things I loved so much about the rich detail in Lighton’s direction is the focus on the spaces between the two. Probably my favorite scene in the movie is when Skarsgård is sitting down playing piano with Melling standing behind him, and it’s the first time Melling is trying to ask for something specifically outside of sex from him. Melling wants him to have dinner with his parents, and the way the camera cuts between the two, feeling the space and tension grow within the scene, is masterful. We cut too far away when Melling feels defeated in his attempts, or cut too close up back to Skarsgård, knowing he’s not fully locked in or focused on the conversation. Lighton’s direction is stupendous for a debut. We are whisked away seamlessly into this rich world with texture and adventure that’s endearing and tragic at the end of the day. The chapter later in the film in which Melling gets a day off from being dominated by Skarsgård plays like a sweet rom-com. Still, you can feel a deep shadow lingering over the whole thing, and to balance something like that and get so close to the reality of love is incredible. The Taming of the Shrew in a way that’s as devastating as you can imagine.

Pillion is sexy and physical. You get naked Greco-Roman wrestling with asses hanging out and big pierced dicks, but you get to see men’s bodies in all different shapes and sizes, that’s all played straight and accepting as it should. Some of this physicality and ridiculousness is played for laughs. Still, for the most part, you are totally engrossed in Melling’s journey to finding an enlightened identity he could never have found otherwise. Skarsgård plays the perfect, collected mentor, helping Melling reach the next stage of his life, fuller and better than he could ever have imagined. We can all hope to wake up one day and feel the sunrise for the first time, as Pillion captures it. I think I’m going to join a biker gang.

Final Score: 8/10

Written by Kevin J. Pettit