A superb romantic comedy with a BDSM twist, Harry Lighton’s directorial debut Pillion, starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård, offers a frank portrait of sexual coming-of-age and first love from a point of view rarely depicted on screen.
Based on the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, this dom-com follows the sexual coming-of-age of a shy, introverted gay man named Colin (Harry Melling), who works a menial job, sings in a barbershop quartet, and lives with his parents in London after he meets a drop dead gorgeous and enigmatic biker name Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). When an initial hookup on Christmas Day develops into something more, Ray introduces Colin to the misunderstood world of BDSM and a relationship that will change his life forever.
Deliriously romantic, explicitly sexual, and deceptively tender, Lighton’s BAFTA-nominated film is a refreshingly modern queer rom-com that tackles intimacy, desire, and love with a wry, insightful, and ever so slightly melancholic touch. Stars Melling and Skarsgård have never been better. Pillion premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival where Lighton won the Best Screenplay award.
