A One Mann’s Movies review of “Pillion” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 4*, 18).
“Pillion” is the third of three very strong films being released this weekend in UK cinemas (the others being “Wake Up Dead Man” and “Blue Moon”. Here’s the republished review, first published on One Mann’s Movies on October 27th.
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“Pillion” is one of those films that kids might not want to take their granny to. When the BBFC say “Strong sex”, they ain’t kidding, and it is of the man-on-man variety. But given that this is the debut film from Portsmouth-born Harry Lighton, it is brimming with bold decisions and innovation that never failed to impress.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Colin (Harry Melling) has an unloved job as a parking warden and sings with his Dad (Douglas Hodge) in a barber-shop quarter. But his is also a gay man singularly unsuccessful in getting dates. When he meets the exotic biker hunk Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) and he shows an interest in him, Colin thinks that his love boat has come in. But the attention has significant strings attached.
Certification:
UK: 18; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong sex, nudity”.)
Talent:
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, Lesley Sharp, Douglas Hodge, Anthony Welsh, Jake Shears.
Directed by: Harry Lighton.
Written by: Harry Lighton & Adam Mars-Jones.
Running Time: 1h 47m.
Summary:
Positives:
- Lots of laugh-out-loud events mixed with seriously cringey moments.
- Melling is superb.
- Really well-filmed biking scenes.
- A feelgood ending.
Negatives:
- Colin’s submissive behaviour may be baffling and frustrating to you.
- The sex will be too strong for many!
Full Review of “Pillion”:
The ghost of Dudley Dursley is slain forever!
It must be hugely frustrating for a child star to be forever associated with that role. Daniel Radcliffe has fought for years to shake his Harry Potter association by pursuing a wildly diverse set of roles. Harry Melling, Dudley Dursley in the original Potter films, has the advantage of having physically changed quite considerably in his adulthood. But his name still raises the ghost of Dudley. How best to shake off that childish image than to be taken roughly up the arse by Alexander Skarsgård’s biker-clad Ray and then to say “Thanks for having me” afterwards?! For that is the life that Colin subjects himself to, becoming Ray’s dominated bitch in a position of utter servitude.
“An aptitude for devotion”.
It’s a position that many viewers will struggle to understand. How much abuse will Colin put up with just to be associated with Ray as his lap-dog?
We see him first go round to Ray’s flat, expecting sex and fun. But instead the transaction is entirely one-way. Ray expects Colin to cook all of his meals. When he sits on the one sofa, Ray taps the seat next to him raising Colin’s hopes, only for the dog to jump up into that space (big LOL): Colin is made to stand behind the sofa. And after some rough and tumble leads to bedtime, while Ray takes the bed, Colin has to curl up on the mat at the foot of the bed and get whatever sleep he can. It’s outrageous.
Meet the parents.
One of the refreshing things about this film is how cool Colin’s parents – Peggy (Lesley Sharp) and Pete (Douglas “The Great” Hodge) – are with his sexuality. Colin is fully ‘out’ to them and they treat it as entirely normal and are supportive of him trying to get male dates. (The film is therefore unlikely to get a cinema release in Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia or Yemen!)
But Peggy and Pete obviously want to meet this mysterious man that Colin spends all of his time with. When the God-like Ray finally succumbs and arrives on their doorstep, he makes an appropriate impression! But the dinner party is far from successful: Peggy is fiercely protective of her son and demands to know what benefits her son is getting from the relationship, much to Colin’s embarrassment. My cringe-o-meter was set to 11.
So, are all bikers gay?
You would be forgiven for thinking from this film that all biker groups were gay. I’d go to one of their favourite weekend haunts – like Matlock Bath – and conduct a survey if I didn’t think I’d get the shit kicked out of me! This concept of certain ‘alpha-bikers’ having a subordinate bitch is clearly embedded in this sub-culture. Colin is paraded around, in his biker gear, a no. 1 buzz cut and a chunky chain and padlock around his neck. But he is not alone: there are other bikers in almost identical garb ‘owned’ by other bikers there.
What goes on in the woods when then stop for a rest is one of the reasons why this is never a film to suggest you stream when your parents / grandparents (delete as applicable) are in the room, unless you are immune to that type of embarrassment!
The curious thing is that I *think* this was a film that I might have applied to be an extra on! I was invited to apply for a film via one of my Supporting Artists agencies that involved nudity and the need for certain BDSM gear, and I suspect that this might have been it! I was unavailable due to vacation times, but else it might have been me on the big screen in those scenes! Eek!
Skarsgård and Melling are superb.
Alexander Skarsgård is perfectly cast as a ‘Norse God of Sex’. Tall, athletic and imposing, there are few actors that could have the confidence to pull this role off with such aplomb.
But Skarsgård only tends to have to look ice cool and sexy. It is Melling that has to do the heavy-lifting on the acting front. Melling has such an odd-looking face (if Peter Jackson was re-making the Hobbit films, he would be a shoe-in for one of the Hobbits) but it allows him to be so expressive in his acting. Here he needs to play joyous, amazed, confused, hurt and – at one dramatic point – insolent and angry! And he does it brilliantly. It’s a terrific performance. I’d actually love to see him nominated for a BAFTA acting award.
Harry Lighton directs with panache.
In his directorial debut, Harry Lighton really cuts things pretty close to the bone (no pun intended) in the sex scenes and manages to keep us curiously engaged in Colin’s perverse view of life. Scenes of Colin riding pillion with Ray are expertly done, with the camera zooming in on his content face as he snuggles into Ray’s back… curiously about the most intimate moments that he has with him. Lighton will be a name to watch in British cinema moving forwards.
After all of the uncomfortable scenes throughout the film, it’s also nice that Lighton’s script (written with Adam Mars-Jones) offers us a slightly more upbeat ending to have me exit the cinema with a smile on my face.
Summary Thoughts:
A movie that is excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch at times, but has more than a few laughs as well along the way. The sex scenes may be too much for some people (I am definitely going to go along to a ‘Silver Screening’ of this at Everyman Salisbury when it comes out!) but it delivers a really thought-provoking piece of cinema about a sub-culture of British society I never even knew existed.
The film is currently slated for a UK release next month, on November 28th 2025.
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAacTUKK00.
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