What a funny romcom year. People were lauding People We Meet on Vacation and how fun it is, while realizing chemistry between its leads is…mediocre at best. When if they just got past their phobias and waited a couple weeks, the real romcom of the year would arrive for them. And for the real Harry Potter heads, I hope this makes you look at Dudley with a much warmer heart than before.
In Bromley on the outskirts of London lives Colin (Harry Melling), a sad sack of a soul. Doing barbershop quartets, issuing parking tickets, and going to the pub for a drink every now and again isn’t exactly the most fulfilling life for the lad, and his parents Pete (Douglas Hodge) and Peggy (Lesley Sharp) know it too. Colin’s life alters in the form of a slipped note at his local bar, where biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgard) shows his interest in Colin. But um, not quite in the romantic way we’re used to in a romantic comedy.
It’s hard to believe this is Harry Lighton’s first feature. He shows a remarkable control over Pillion, to turn it into the special love story that it is. The movie so easily could have been a 50 shades of Alexander Skarsgard’s penis, or worse, a sexually exploitative Colleen Hoover like adaptation that disservices the BDSM relationships it wants to showcase. The way Colin and Ray navigate their relationship is more sexual than most classical relationships, but Lighton smartly shows how all relationships still have the same issues regardless of how they are set up. Colin and Ray’s relationship is like a sexually experienced person dating a virgin; Ray knows exactly what he wants out of the relationship, while Colin is excited, but still very new and unknowing. The pair navigate that discovery through communication and honesty, but in a more progressive way in Pillion; not all the sex is enjoyable for both parties, and they slowly figure out what the other likes as they both consent to this partnership. And, as Colin really understands what makes him happy, that’s no different than any other evolving relationship we’ve seen before, as the two quarrel and bicker, just while one person is wearing a locked dog collar begging to sleep in the bed and not on the floor for a couple nights.
Pillion rides or dies with its couple. Dom Alexander Skarsgard is actually the sub in this movie. Not a lot of changes from Ray: he’s the hunky magnetic force/immovable object that stays purposefully mysterious, deliberately choosing his words and actions. That being said, he looks fantastic shirtless as you’d expect and he’s game for all the physical and sexual demands Pilion needs him to commit to. But this is Harry Melling’s movie. He’s officially out of the child actor role that defined him, having been slowly taking great little parts and making movies better with his presence. Colin is the sub you can’t take your eyes off of; he’s completely affable and sweet, making us believe he truly loves this exciting new phase of his life. Melling’s also game for the physical stuff, but he’s equally strong conversing with empty vessel Ray, with very funny results as he tries to weasel some slight changes to their current setup. He’s just as good away from Ray too, especially with Douglas Hodge and Lesley Sharp, as he meekly tries to explain his lifestyle to his parents who will never understand it. Sharp and Hodge take great advantage of their limited screen time, especially in Ray’s first dinner with them, transforming archetypes into real characters you feel for even though they’re probably in the wrong.
Pillion is never going to be my lifestyle. But thanks Harry Lighton anyways! I feel like I understand it a lot better, and have a nice leg up for how to explain what this movie is to my parents, who also have no concept of BDSM relationships. On second thought, I think I’ll just create a chaste profile for them to browse movies on instead.