‘Pillion’ Review: Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling’s Kinky Romance Is One of This Year’s Best Surprises

From watching the trailer for Pillion, the directorial debut of Harry Lighton, you would think it’s just a quaint, charming, and sexy rom-com following the relationship between a timid loner and a biker adonis. And while it begins that way, following a fairly light tone that you often don’t see paired with stories of BDSM, queer relationships between men, and biker gangs, Pillion is something much more complex. Following the shy, lonesome Colin (Harry Melling), a man in his early 30s who still lives at home with his parents, and the god-like biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), it’s less a rom-com and more an introspective coming-of-age story.

While we watch Colin revolve his existence around Ray, Lighton, with a keen eye for intimacy, draws out all the conflicting emotions of being totally devoted to a person, and it not being reciprocated. But despite all this depth, it still manages to be a hilarious, awkward, uncomfortable, and endearing portrait of a man finally discovering who he is, even if he has to completely lose himself in another person first. Harry Lighton announces himself as one of the most perceptive and interesting filmmakers, while giving Melling a star-making performance that further confirms him as one of the most interesting performers working today.

‘Pillion’ Follows an Unordinary Relationship Between Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård

Colin is somewhere between his late 20s and early 30s, living at home in Bromley in rural England. He works a dead-end job as a car park attendant who hands out tickets, which mostly consists of not looking disgruntled drivers in the eye as they call him a wanker. He sidelines as part of an a cappella group, but that seems to be the extent of his social life. He has a loving family who clearly want Colin to spread his wings more, trying to hide their overwhelming delight when Colin announces he has a date. In the pub, the tall, statuesque, and stoic Ray leaves Colin a note with information to meet up on Christmas Day, which ends with Ray deep-throating Colin in a back alley. It may sound seedy, but Lighton frames their rendezvous as awkward and hilarious, with the stark contrast of Ray’s cavalier attitude and Colin’s bumbling novice nerves.

Despite Ray barely saying anything to him and ignoring his texts in the ensuing weeks, Colin jumps at the opportunity to see him again. They embark on a transactional, BDSM relationship, where Colin cooks and cleans, does the shopping, sleeps on the floor, and waits for Ray to instigate sex, but absolutely no kissing. It’s a jarring situation at first, but we go along with it because Colin is the happiest he’s ever been in his life. He finds a community in Ray’s biker gang, shaves his head, dons a chain and padlock around his neck, and appears more confident. But as Colin’s parents notice how subservient he has become, the illusion of their relationship starts to falter, and Colin must reckon with whether the relationship is bringing him enough happiness.

Harry Lighton’s ‘Pillion’ Is So Much More Than a Rom-Com

Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling in PillionImage Via A24

Despite being a fairly low-stakes tale about love, relationships, and selfhood set in a sleepy English town, Pillion thrives on tension and unpredictability. I found myself smiling from ear to ear for the first half, as Colin’s parents insist on his bringing a box of chocolates to Ray’s house, and the two wrestle as Colin wears an assless one-piece. Again, Lighton writes some hilarious bits, focusing on natural, mannerly comedy easily derived from the juxtaposition of the two lead performances. Then, when the honeymoon phase ends and Lighton snaps us back into stark reality, it becomes increasingly difficult to decide whether you want the two to end up together or not. Lighton positions Colin as our only perspective, creating a conflict in the audience as we scream out “leave!” one minute and then completely understand why he wants to be with Ray forever the next. But whatever Colin does, Lighton’s script and Melling’s performance ensure that all the audience wants is for him to be happy.

Pillion is also a pretty fascinating text on pretty privilege, as everyone seems to follow Ray’s orders and forego his idiosyncrasies purely because he is so beautiful. Would Colin devote his life to serving someone more ordinary-looking? And would a person less attractive feel worthy of asking for that? Lighton is also careful never to glamorize a toxic relationship nor demonize BDSM, but shows that relationships contain multitudes, and the bottom line for any relationship is mutual satisfaction.

For a script as clever and character-focused as Pillion, it would be forgivable for the directing to take a backseat. But Lighton doesn’t let this happen, as his grasp on the camera in capturing both tacit emotion and exhilarating action is astonishing. The film opens with a POV shot of a motorcycle ride, zooming through a motorway, turning what’s usually considered an eyesore into an illuminating, sweeping playground for him. The camera always feels in harmony with the characters, amplifying what’s not being said by capturing the smallest of glimpses and the quickest of flinches, punctuated by perfectly-timed montages and a classical, dramatic score. Directorial debuts can often see filmmakers throwing every technique at the wall in the hopes that enough will stick. However, Lighton demonstrates a sharp restraint that would suggest he’s been directing features for years. For a film that is constantly jumping from comedy to tension to romance to pathos, Lighton’s shooting of scenes never lags behind the shifting tone.

Harry Melling Gives a Star-Making Performance in ‘Pillion’

Harry Melling as Colin in PillionImage Via A24

For a film like Pillion to be so introspective and intimate, the right cast was always going to be essential for its success. Alexander Skarsgård could’ve easily let his body and looks do all the work, and he has a difficult job of playing part-villain, part-object of desire. And yet, he still manages to inject Ray with enough humanity and empathy that keeps Colin — and the audience — invested. While the film probably would’ve benefitted from a little more depth in Ray, it’s likely a conscious choice to keep Colin our one and only protagonist. In supporting roles, Douglas Hodge and Lesley Sharp are undeniable highlights as Colin’s parents, bringing a warmth and normality that contrasts with Colin and Ray’s arrangement. Michael Stuhlbarg in Call Me By Your Name will remain the gold standard of fathers in queer love stories, but Peggy and Pete represent something much more earnest and recognizable. Peggy is given more space to reckon with the pain of watching a loved one find happiness in something you don’t approve of. Her fierce protection of her son colliding with his autonomy adds to the many moral quandaries that the film fits in, while still allowing Sharp to deliver the most laughs.

However, this is truly Melling’s film, giving him a breakout performance that should finally garner undivided attention for an actor who’s been making some brilliant post-Harry Potter choices. From a stand-out scene in Netflix’s The Devil All the Time to solid supporting performances in The Tragedy of Macbeth and The Queen’s Gambit, Melling is emerging as the most versatile performer out of Harry Potter’s younger cast. Fitting seamlessly into Colin’s nervous, dejected, and lonely existence, he tracks his character’s arc and growth, neither of which is a straight, uphill path. Making Colin both a vulnerable sweetheart we want to protect and a man who has finally found the power to campaign for himself, it’s down to Melling’s compelling performance that makes the film a coming-of-age story first, and a love story second. Together with Skarsgård, the two have electric chemistry and excruciating tension, turning banal conversations into taut showdowns in the blink of an eye, and stretching the film’s unpredictability.

Pillion wasn’t the film I was expecting, and I am pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t coast on its set-up, Skarsgård’s presence, or the taboos it approaches. It handles all these and then some, combining a compelling coming-of-age story, an endearing comedy, and a sex-positive odd romance into one of the best films of the year.

Pillion screened at this year’s London Film Festival.

Release Date

August 29, 2025

Runtime

101 Minutes

Director

Harry Lighton

Writers

Harry Lighton

Producers

Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton

Pros & Cons

• Pillion’s script is a genre-transcending masterclass in shifting tones.
• Harry Lighton’s direction captures the intimacy and tension within the characters.
• The cast is all excellent, but Harry Melling gives a spectacular performance.

• The ending feels a bit abrupt and Ray might have benefited from more depth.