!['Pillion' Review: Harry Melling & Alexander Skarsgård Find Unexpected Feeling In The Role Play [Cannes]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/16122918/PILLION-Harry-LIGHTON-Photos-1-Films-kit-Cannes.jpg "'Pillion' Review: Harry Melling & Alexander Skarsgård Find Unexpected Feeling In The Role Play [Cannes]")
At Cannes, Harry Lighton introduced “Pillion” as more than just a debut feature in Un Certain Regard — it was a reimagining of queer tenderness clothed in leather and longing. He recalled receiving the novel Box Hill at the outset of the pandemic: “I found it sexy, funny, moving, thought-provoking — all the good things,” he said. From there, Lighton says he entered adaptation with leeway: when meeting co-writer Adam Mars-Jones, “he gave me complete freedom to go in whatever direction I fancied.”
In “Pillion,” Alexander Skarsgård plays Ray — a leather dom exuding dangerous charisma — who draws Harry Melling’s Colin into an intoxicating world of power, intimacy, and surrender. Lighton described Melling as someone who “fizzes with this very unusual brand of charisma that’s totally magnetic but not remotely alpha,” while Skarsgård is praised for mixing “movie-star good looks” with a “razor-sharp, playful, kind of freaky personality.” On set, Lighton says the energy was wild: “The cast and crew were such a fun, talented gang to work with, I had a blast.”
The film premiered at Cannes and Telluride to strong buzz, and now arrives in New York via NYFF. With that momentum behind it, “Pillion” has quickly become one of the most talked-about queer romances of the moment.
The narrative follows the life of a reserved man, whose world is upended when he meets a charismatic biker. As their bond evolves, Lighton probes the collision of control and consent, trust and seduction. Our Playlist review from Cannes captured its emotional weight: “It’s a beast of sexual power dynamics and unrequited intimacy all on its own.” The same review also observed that Skarsgård and Melling “find unexpected feeling in the role-play,” proving Lighton’s film isn’t just about provocation but about vulnerability and emotional discovery.
Lighton himself emphasized the importance of portraying queer love as radical yet tender: “I wanted to make something that was sexy and fun, but also emotional and surprising.” By centering leather and kink as pathways to connection rather than spectacle, “Pillion” aims to expand the way queer desire is portrayed on screen.
Produced by Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton, and Lee Groombridge, “Pillion” brings festival prestige and palpable swagger to its release. After rapturous receptions at Cannes and Telluride, its NYFF screening further cements it as one of the year’s most vital queer titles, the sort of work that provokes as much as it invites.
With Skarsgård and Melling navigating the push-pull of dominance and surrender, Lighton delivers a queer romance that reframes intimacy as a transformative experience. The result is a film both audacious and disarmingly heartfelt.
“Pillion” premieres at the New York Film Festival this weekend and opens in theaters in early 2026. Watch the trailer below.
