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Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling and directed by Harry Lighton
Trailer: A24

Pillion
Directed by Harry Lighton
Rated R
Licked 20 February 2026
#Pillion

Pillion will likely struggle to find appeal beyond its core demographic.

Easy Rider

Technically speaking, Pillion is a well-made film. That’s not even up for contention. Its stars, Alexander Skarsgard (The Legend of Tarzan) and Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series), deliver great, nuanced and tender performances. Harry Lighton, making his feature directorial debut, proves he has a talent worth watching.

Nick Morris’ cinematography is quite good. Scenes with Colin (Melling) and Ray (Skarsgard) riding a motorcycle together are rather lyrical and incongruently peaceful compared to the typical noise of a motorcycle ride. Insert whatever innuendo and attach any symbolism you so desire to those visuals.

But Pillion’s subject matter is not mainstream. Lighton’s screenplay is based on the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. The book’s tagged as a queer coming of age story and the movie’s been dubbed a “dom com.” Of course, a “rom com” is a romantic comedy. This one, well, features more domination than romance or comedy. And it’s all comfortably R-rated for U.S. audiences after reportedly being whittled down from an NC-17 cut shown at Cannes.

In some respects, while the movie takes place in England, watching Pillion is like watching a foreign film, a movie made in a totally different, far-flung country and with characters speaking in a completely different tongue.

As a viewer on the outside of the LGBTQ+ culture, the cinematic language works beautifully. The problem is the narrative. There’s really not much there and it’s doubtful the NC-17 edit would solve this problem.

A pillion is basically a motorcycle’s back pad to accommodate a passenger behind the cycle driver. That person is said to “ride pillion.” So, it can be said Melling’s character, Colin, is the titular pillion as he befriends Skarsgard’s Ray, an older and deeply mysterious motorcycle rider.

Colin sings in a barbershop quartet in a pub, which sets the stage for the two to meet. An odd romance ensues.

The Bikeriders

It’s an odd romance from the outside looking in not from the gay aspect necessarily, but that coupled with BDSM. That’s all kinds of bondage, dominance, submission, sadism and masochism. And motorcycles.

The youthful Colin is the eagerly submissive one.

There’s no exposition around any of this; it’s just a given.

On their first date, Ray asks Colin to lick his boots. Colin is happy to oblige. The two then essentially consummate their relationship in a back alley. From there, Colin sleeps on the floor at the foot of Ray’s bed, attired only in black underwear and a padlocked chain around his neck.

The two enjoy each other’s company at a distance. Ray leaves Colin with a list of chores for the day while he goes out to live his life (whatever that mysterious life is). That is their relationship every day.

What’s curious about watching Pillion is how bland it all plays out. Everything is soft-spoken, which is all the more remarkable given their friends are relatively rough-looking (British) motorcyclists. All of the action feels muted (which is not to say muzzles are involved). There are no 9 ½ Weeks or Basic Instinct moments of cinematic energy and casting chemistry. When the refrigerator’s opened, it’s strictly an act of utilitarianism.

So, the question has to be asked: where’s the passion that’s usually required for material such as this to work as a movie? How would this all play out if the couple was heterosexual? What would be the interest in seeing this dynamic unfold?

That’s where Pillion falters as a moviegoing experience. Move past the hype surrounding speculation of Skarsgard’s personal life and orientation. Move past the hype of seeing the bare bottom of a Harry Potter star.

Standing on its own, Pillion simply isn’t very interesting. And that includes Colin and Ray. They’re simply not interesting standalone characters outside of this relationship scenario. There isn’t a meaningful character arc for either of them from the movie’s beginning to its conclusion.

The Motorcycle Diaries

The drama, such as it is, runs through two threads.

One is the dynamic between Ray and Colin. As their relationship goes on, it never builds. They instantly fall into a routine set by Ray, but Colin wants more. He wants to have a day off – just one day a week – wherein they break the domination routine and they have breakfast together and spend the day doing fun things outside. And Colin would like to kiss Ray.

The other thread involves Colin’s mother, Peggy (Lesley Sharp, The Full Monty). At first, she’s all for her son’s romantic pursuits. But she turns quickly after meeting Ray. Nobody knows anything about him. As she puts it, they don’t know if he’s a hairdresser or a serial killer.

Sure, he’s remarkably handsome.

But maybe he’s dangerous.

Perhaps there’s a third thread, one of jealousy. But it’s so brief, it’s barely worth mentioning.

So. Okay. Fine.

There’s simply not enough to hold the attention beyond the hype.

Nothing here is particularly compelling in terms of any relationship between two people, especially when that relationship is playing out on a large screen in a dark theatre. The underlying themes are essentially universal.

Ray’s a lone wolf who doesn’t want to get too close to any one person for whatever reason he might have. A kiss? Well, that could very well be the breaking point.

Put all of this in the context of a heterosexual relationship and there’s simply no draw. There’s not even a time-travelling mailbox.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.