Alexander Skarsgård is in his dom era, and Harry Melling is ready to submit.
The duo stars in Pillion, a queer BDSM drama written and directed by Harry Lighton. Skarsgård plays Ray, while Melling is Colin.
“A timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive,” reads the short logline that previews exactly what Pillion is about.
The movie had its worldwide premiere at Cannes and was received well, quickly selling to the celebrated distributor, A24.
‘Pillion’s Trailer Subverts Expectations
Pillion is described as a dom-com, featuring sexual domination dynamics and romance in equal measure.
The trailer effectively captures these dynamics as it ushers us into the film’s world.
Colin is part of a singing troupe and in one instance, while carolling, he lays his eyes on Ray.
The former is everything that the latter isn’t — well, almost everything.
He’s tall, domineering, popular, and outgoing. His look can make anyone submit, so Colin never stood a chance.
Their dynamics are established early as Colin assumes his natural position of submission.
It shocks everyone how he was able to bag the leader of a bike gang. “I have an aptitude for devotion,” Colin says, revealing his secret power.
Pillion does not seem like anything you’d expect from a BDSM movie. It appears softer in style, reminiscent of a classic romance movie.
Ray and Colin share small glances and laughs that hint at a deeper dynamic other than that of a dom and a sub.
Soon, Colin starts hanging out with the bike gang, but to the regular person, there is nothing atypical about them. I mean, one wears a lock and the other the key to that lock.
Ray absolutely loves dominating Colin, and Colin submits fully. Perfect fit!
Alexander Skarsgård Has Done Pillion-y Things In the Past
Photo: A24 (Screenshot)“I found that in this case, it’s not really relevant what my background is. I mean, I do have a kid, but what I’ve done in the past, who I’ve been with, men, women… To me, what was important was that this felt like an opportunity to tell a story about a subculture I hadn’t seen portrayed this way – with so much authenticity,” the True Blood star said in an interview while discussing a project many would shy away from.
Skarsgård contrasted Pillion‘s portrayal of the BDSM community to the 1978 film Cruising starring Al Pacino. There’s a reason why it made our list of one of the worst gay movies ever made.
“My experience of watching this on screen was through Cruising, where it’s this dark underbelly of New York City and it’s dangerous, murderous and scary. Leather gays are scary. I’m no Ray, but I have a little bit of experience from that world and I know that’s not the truthful depiction.”
The trailer might not communicate this, but Pillion has some very graphic sex scenes. Production had to balance being unapologetic while avoiding being overly gratifying.
“All these characters were fully fledged and the sex scenes weren’t graphic for the sake of being graphic. We shot way more graphic stuff than you’ve seen just now,” said Robbie Taylor Hunt, the film’s intimacy coordinator.
Pillion does not have a release date yet.