Pillion (2025) ‘FNC’ Movie Review: Harry Lighton’s Eternally Sincere Debut Explores BDSM Kinks with Disarming Tenderness

The unexpectedly touching story of a relationship built upon the foundation of leather rainboots coated in a spit-shine gloss, “Pillion,” is something of a contradiction in film form. A romantic comedy made in an era defined by the dearth of (among many other things) viable romantic comedies, Harry Lighton’s directorial debut could only really exist in the very climate of its making, one so far removed from the days of wholesome tales of amorous union.

Granted, to call Lighton’s work a “romantic comedy” would likely set false expectations for a drama that opens with a barbershop quartet performing on Christmas Eve, only to later feature a centerpiece cameo from a boisterous penile piercing, but for all intents and purposes, the film fits the bill. “Pillion” is, at its core, quite funny, but the humor that develops from its scenario of unlikely adjustments only further reinforces the tenderness at the heart of a romance that beggars all understanding just as much as it relies on defined boundaries.

And it all begins with the soft, lonely gaze of Colin (Harry Melling). A timid young introvert still living with his parents—parents who are entirely accepting and even supportive of his being gay, immediately chucking one potential cliche out of the window—Colin makes for the perfect companion to a man he’d never have expected himself to be with. On the surface, that “pinch me, I’m dreaming” sensation comes from the fact that the companion in question is hunky biker gang leader Ray (Alexander Skarsgård, continuing to hulk above all who share the screen), but soon enough, Colin’s newfound romance will find brand new ways to defy all forms of expectation.

Ray, for his part, is upfront from the get-go, courting Colin to an act of sexual humiliation that immediately sets the stage for a dominant/submissive dynamic that exists well beyond anything Colin would ever have thought himself capable of enduring. But as he himself says, his new lover(?) appreciates his “capacity for devotion,” and it’s precisely this devotion that will be put to the test as the parameters of this relationship begin to solidify in more of a long-term capacity.

Also Read: ‘Bottoms’ and the New State of Queer Cinema

Pillion (2025) — A still from “Pillion” (2025)

Instantly proving himself entirely disinterested in exploiting the basic taboos around homosexuality for any cheap melodrama, Lighton, like his domineering co-lead, pushes “Pillion” to new limits largely unseen in its particular milieu. What results is a delicate balancing act that finds just as much grace as it does discomfort and humor in the exploration of BDSM relationships, never passing judgment on the practice itself, but rather interrogating the need for proper communication in a dynamic that thrives entirely on both parties needing to be on exactly the same page.

“Pillion,” in that respect, mines great complexity from that fractured collaboration because Melling’s reserved and giving demeanor ostensibly makes him a perfect choice to be the submissive half of a relationship bound by padlocked chains, just as much as Skarsgård’s domineering presence makes him perfectly… well, domineering. The latter, however, is crucially never portrayed as a figure whose sexual thrills come from inflicting genuine abuse and pain on his partner, but rather one who gets off on the immersion shared in the acting out of a particularly authoritarian sexual hierarchy.

How far that act can (and should) go, however, is an entirely different matter, and “Pillion” gives its characters the decency of an entirely dignified stance on both ends of the spectrum to interrogate the possibility—not the value—of this sort of affiliation. It’s actually from these entirely disarming flashes of warmth that radiate from Skarsgård’s toned physique that Lighton is able to evoke the most potent moments of heartbreak from this scenario, as sullen eyes come to glow brightest through the dimmed and distancing lens of a motorcycle helmet.

Because of its surprising palatability, “Pillion” is unlikely to excite the crowds heretofore accustomed to onscreen depictions of atypical sexual practices. I, for one, would be surprised to see the Kenneth Anger/John Waters crowd give Harry Lighton the seal (whip?) of approval for a film that ostensibly courts an audience running entirely counter to the niche crowd that finds its erotic satisfaction in this underground realm. Nevertheless, while these communities don’t seek the validation of the outside world, no film was ever less for treating them like human beings in search of their own form of consensual love.