Pillion
As he sits in the back of his parents' car on their way to the local pub where he'll perform with a barbershop quartet, Colin (Harry Melling, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," "The Pale Blue Eye") cannot help but notice the biker in sleek white and black leathers who overtakes them. Colin can't take his eyes of the man when he appears in the pub and will be overcome, and also a little confused, to find himself becoming Ray's (Alexander Skarsgård) submissive and his "Pillion."
Laura's Review: A
British writer/director Harry Lighton makes a startlingly assured feature debut, a most unconventional love story that is frankly sexual, surprisingly funny and ultimately moving. Lighton clearly has a canny sense of casting as one cannot imagine anyone but Melling and Skarsgård as the shy and awkward submissive who falls hard for the taciturn, mysterious Adonis-like dom, a pairing not unlike good girl Sandy falling for bad boy Danny in "Grease." At a Q&A after the screening, Lighton said he changed the 70's period of Adam Mars-Jones' 'Box Hill' to circumvent the more blatant homophobia of the time, allowing his gay bikers, most of whom were cast from the actual lifestyle, more freedom.
The contrast couldn't be more apparent between the sweet sounding barber shop quartet singer supported by his parents and the incredibly good looking biker throwing darts with his mates. When Colin, still singing, passes the hat, the object of his attention doesn't even look up from the table, but when the two both hit the bar at the same time, Colin nervously buying several packets of chips, he's passed a Christmas card with a time - Christmas night - and place written on it. Colin cannot believe his luck.
After Christmas with family, mother Peggy (Lesley Sharp, "Naked," "Catherine Called Birdy") colorfully bewigged to hide her cancer treatment baldness, Colin takes their long-haired dachshund to a city center, where the stranger he'll learn is Ray appears with his rottweiler, tying it to a post, then wordlessly striding off, Colin following awkwardly. Ray enters an alley and takes off his leather jacket, Colin following suit. The man then asks Colin to raise his hands, grips them, then wrestles Colin to the ground and unzips the fly of his leather trousers. Colin tries to perform, gagging, and makes the first of many apologies, saying he needs practice, but Ray doesn't give any indication he'll get the chance, merely saying he's not in the area that much and that he has to go.
New Year's Eve finds Colin alone again at the pub, but when he dares to send a New Year's text to Ray, he gets a surprising result. Soon the man arrives at his house to pick him up on his bike, leading to the most painfully funny 'meet the parents' sequence in cinematic history, both Peggy and Pete (Douglas Hodge, "Joker," "We Live in Time") struggling to get a word out of their son's 'date.' Cinematographer Nick Morris uses close-ups whenever Colin is riding pillion, emphasizing the 'can't believe my good fortune' joy in Colin's eyes, his hands clasping Roy more like a caress. Colin, though, doesn't realize Ray is a dom casting Colin as his submissive and so when they arrive at Ray's apartment, he's given orders to cook dinner and when Ray pats the couch beside him, it's meant for Rosie, his rottweiler, to jump up. Ray announces that it's time for bed, raising Colin's hopes once more, but after Colin pulls out his comical electric toothbrush, he's told he can sleep on the rug as long as he doesn't snore. The next day leads to a wrestling match, which leads to Colin's first experience as a bottom, something he appears to endure with both pain and pleasure as he seems thrilled when Ray tells him not to arrive before 6 p.m. the next day, gives him a shopping list and advises him to get himself a butt plug. When he shows up the next day with two bags of groceries, Colin is surprised to find Ray's apartment full of leather clad bondage bikers. He dons an apron.
Soon Colin's head is shaved and he's been gifted matching leather biker gear and a locked chain around his neck, Ray wearing the key, the two recognized as a couple among Ray's set. But Peggy, upset to see her son's 'best feature' lopped off, is becoming concerned about this 'boyfriend' who refuses to have dinner with them and who isn't taking her son out for his birthday. But the bikers do celebrate it, revving up their hogs outside of Ray's, a cupcake with a candle left on a windowsill. The group will ride out into the country for a day where Ray will first humiliate Colin when he fails to win a water joust, then take him face to face for the first time, a new level of intimacy. Still, Kevin (Jake Shears), another sub who tells Colin he and Ray make a great couple because Colin essentially makes Ray look even more handsome, asks if they kiss, sowing a seed of discontent. Two significant events involving Colin's mother will initiate some radical changes in Colin and Ray's relationship, a show of tenderness by Ray provoking an outright rebellion by Colin.
Harry Melling makes that rebellion the film's highlight, a man finally forging his own destiny, and Lighton ensures that it is not only liberating and consequential, but funny as well. Melling has made Colin unforgettable, a gay man with few prospects whose first relationship strengthens his resolve that he deserves love. But although we never learn Ray's background, Skarsgård gives us just enough to guess, taking a character who could have been unlikable and instead making him a sympathetic enigma. Colin's mother may not like him, but there's more to Ray than meets the eye and Skarsgård surprises throughout, his last expression cutting myriad ways. The contributions of Hodge and especially Sharp cannot be understated as well. With "Pillion," Lighton's put himself on the cinematic map and given himself a mighty tough act to follow.
Robin's Review: B-
Colin (Harry Melling) is a quiet gay man living with his mom (Leslie Sharp) and dad (Douglas Hodge). He meanders through life as a parking attendant until he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgard), a tall, muscular biker who chooses Colin to be his submissive in “Pillion.”
As a supposed film critic, I am tasked with giving an unbiased opinion on the film being reviewed. However, sometimes the subject is so counter to my own sensibilities that it colors how I view the film. “Pillion” is one of those movies.
The subject can be thought as S&M, B&D, assertive/submissive or master/slave, all of which I find offensive, especially the latter. And, this is central to the story of the ‘romance’ between Ray and Colin. As such, the relationship that develops between the two men is unacceptable to me. I am against this particular concept of abuse and bullying.
Now, back to the movie. Harry Melling is front and center as the lead POV here. He is a mama’s boy whose mom, Peggy, a cancer victim, accepts her son’s homosexuality – until Ray arrives on the scene. In the scene where Colin’s mom and dad meet the biker, the momma lion comes out to protect her cub from Ray. Ray gets pissy about it.
While Skarsgard’s Ray is a two-note character – selfish and brutish – Melling gives Colin a nice arc of character development. The meek milquetoast we first meet, pushed around in his parking attendant job, is smitten when Ray deigns to show him attention. Of course, for Ray, it is just sex, but not so for Colin.
This is where the master/slave roles kick in and, for Colin, it is one of accepted humiliation and sexual abuse. For Ray, it is getting the meek Colin to do his bidding whenever he wants. It is not, what I would call a relationship made in heaven – except for Colin, sometimes and in a weird way.
What works best, for me, is the character arc that takes over Colin as he becomes more assertive and sure of himself. Melling, who began his career playing Dudley Dursley in the “Harry Potter” franchise, has made his mark as the lead in “Pillion.”
Writer-director Harry Lighton creates a unique look at the biker sub-culture in Britain. It makes me glad I gave up riding those many years ago.
A24 releases "Pillion" in NY and LA on 2/6/26, expanding on 2/13/26.
