Pillion | The Deight Night Review
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| Pillion (2025, Harry Lighton, Picture House Entertainment) |
In one of his boldest roles to date, Alexander Skarsgård plays Ray, an enigmatic and distant biker who quite literally drags the timid and naïve Colin (Harry Melling) out of his quiet life as a parking attendant to become his submissive partner along with his gang who also share his erotic tastes. However, the further along the relationship goes, Colin finds himself wanting more out of the relationship, while Ray is very much set on remaining dominant and aloof.
Intimacy is consistently at the centre of Pillion's narrative and drives the film thematically. What is intimacy? Why do some people crave? Why do others fear it? Pillion is an honest and sometimes rather brutal answer to all those questions and more and is one of the deeper stories about relationships to hit cinemas recently. Colin's loneliness countered by Ray's aloofness is a perfect dichotomy to explore what distances people go to seek out love and to express their inner desires. There is always a lighter edge to a lot of the dialogue in the film but it is at its heart a very tragic drama about what the desperate search for intimacy and companionship can do to a persons' life.
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| Pillion (2025, Harry Lighton, Picture House Entertainment) |
The film is also an exploration of the dynamics of the relationships between dominant and submissive partners, and this particular part of the film results in some of the most graphic displays of intimacy seen on screen this year. It's never uncomfortable to watch though. Sometimes sex in film can feel derogatory, exploitative or at the very least unnecessary. But in Pillion, the intercourse is hardly romantic but it's an extension of the characters' dialogue, it demonstrates where the pair stand with each other and shows the dominant/submissive relationship in full force. Though things can get quite extreme, consent is not something that really concerns the film. Anything that happens never feels like something that isn't part of the intimacy and always feels as though everyone involved is indeed up for whatever happens. Of course, people with more traditional views of sex will be absolutely shocked to watch Pillion, especially on the big screen, but the film is hardly concerned with people like that either.
Pillion is the feature debut of director Harry Lighton and it is absolutely nothing less than a bold and brash kick through the front door of the film industry and a show of a very confident young director with an extremely bright future ahead. The film is shot fantastically and every single frame makes efforts to tell you something about the characters inside them. Though Pillion is based on the book Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, it feels like Lighton is writing and directing from personal experience. The film is so intimate and caring and it seems impossible that Lighton hasn't put some of his life into the film's DNA. What's more though, he gets some fantastically understated performances out of his cast.
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| Pillion (2025, Harry Lighton, Picture House Entertainment) |
Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling are a perfect match in Pillion, the Swedish giant towers over the former Harry Potter star which creates a visual metaphor for what's to come in their relationship and that clearly has a positive effect on their chemistry throughout the film. Skarsgård doesn't play too far from a lot of his usual stoic characters, but there's a level a vulnerability and fear in here that isn't quite present in some of his more heroic roles. Moreover, you can see him as a dominant figure but he never quite crosses the line to being scary or abusive, meaning Ray always has some level of empathy. Similarly with Melling's Colin, he makes a lot of decisions that many people wouldn't make, but thanks to his timid and mouse-like characterisation, you can see exactly why he goes down the roads he travels down.
Pillion is a stark and brave exploration of the complexities of modern relationships. It's fearless in its portrayal of intimacy and refuses to give in to cliches, breaking new cinematic ground with every single frame. With wonderfully subtle and fittingly real performances from its entire cast, Harry Lighton crafts a unique and personal romantic drama that excels in its strive for honesty and literal naked openness. It's a landmark film that will be remembered for years to come.
★★★★
