If it surprises you that the reactions to Pillion, the new film from director Harry Lighton starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård about a brief encounter relationship set in the seemingly aggro world of BDSM and bikers un-ironically include words like “sweet,” “charming,” “romantic,” and most importantly “funny” and “hilarious,” I’m here to assure you that that this dom rom is, in fact, a com. The Mary Sue spoke to Lighton and Melling about bringing that joyful tone to life on screen and inviting Pillion audiences to laugh.
The film is an adaptation of Adam Mars-Jones’ 2020 novel Box Hill. It follows Colin (Melling) and his revelatory coming-of-age journey at 35 years old. The dom-sub relationship he enters into with an enigmatic biker named Ray (Skarsgård) takes him about as far out of his cozy suburban British comfort zone as possible. It’s a celebration of subculture, pushing back against society’s conventions, and love. Discovering your own boundaries and preferences is fun work, but still work. It’s touching, thoughtful, sometimes quite sad, and also very funny.
