Before the premiere for Pillion at the Cannes Film Festival began there were already signs of what kind of movie this was going to be. First off, star Alexander Skarsgård took the stage in extremely tight leather pants, and when prompted by festival director Thierry Frémaux, shook his a–. And then director Harry Lighton took the mic, telling the audience, which included Pedro Pascal, that he hoped the movie made people laugh, think, feel and also, well, get a little bit horny.
He did not oversell.
Lighton has made quite possibly the sexiest movie at Cannes this year, that’s also delightfully tender—even as it features c— rings and a– play. Based on the book Box Hill, Pilion is maybe the loveliest movie you’ll ever see about BDSM biker culture without skimping on the provocatively explicit scenes.
In addition to Skarsgård, the movie stars Harry Melling, who as an adult has had roles in The Queen’s Gambit and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, but as a child was Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter franchise.
Melling, in a role that will inevitably raise his profile, plays Colin, a meek young man in the suburbs of London. He sings with his dad in a barbershop quartet at a pub where he first notices Ray, a striking biker played by, of course, Skarsgård. (Many people remark on just how hot Ray is, and, uh, yeah.) Colin is on an awkward date with a guy set up by his mother (Lesley Sharp), but Ray slips him a note at the bar telling him to meet up with him the next night—which happens to be Christmas.
Despite the concerns from his family about meeting a strange man on the street, Colin goes ahead and finds Ray outside a Primark. Ray heads to a back alley where he strips off his jacket and starts testing Colin’s willingness to submit, a test that involves boot licking and oral sex.
Colin is quickly enamored, and even though he’s confused when he goes over to Ray’s house and is immediately commanded to make dinner and sleep on the rug, he eagerly does the tasks Ray asks. Their initial sleepover is capped by a wrestling match in which Colin wears an a–less wrestling singlet and is hoisted on his back by Ray until he gives in. In a hilarious touch, Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now” blares as they establish their dynamic.
Lighton’s elegant script doesn’t overly explain the world that Ray is a part of with tedious descriptions of the gay biker subculture. Instead, he just shows how Colin becomes Ray’s sub, soon wearing a chain around his neck with a lock to which Ray has a key. They go on camping trips with other leather-clad sub-dom couples where traditions include fishing and a buffet of sorts where all the submissives lie a– up on picnic tables until their doms approach. Lighton transforms the latter into an achingly romantic moment.
Because for as scandalous as this all seems Pillion isn’t just out to shock. More than anything it charts Colin’s discovery of his own preferences. Melling transforms over the course of the film, beginning as someone perpetually hunched, sure of his sexuality as a gay man but unsure about everything else. In the company of Ray, he starts to come more alive even as he obeys commands.
Colin clearly enjoys being a sub, but he also starts to want more from the taciturn Ray than Ray is willing to give. He craves something in between, bringing Ray home for an awkward family dinner with his ailing mother who is worried about her son being mistreated. But even though Ray is entrenched in his ways, he also starts to develop an affection for Colin that goes beyond the initial rules of their relationship that were previously established. Skarsgård handles this beautifully, softening just enough so you can see fondness creep into his eyes.
Pillion is often very funny without ever kinkshaming, thanks to the wry script, Skarsgård’s deadpan, and Melling’s guilelessness. And while there is heartbreak involved the film is also genuinely uplifting. In a way, in addition to being Cannes’ sexiest movie, it also might be the most feel-good. And not in the horny way. Though that too.
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