Pillion

In his unorthodox queer romance, first-time feature director Harry Lighton has fashioned something highly improbable: a film about a sadomasochistic relationship that is both transgressive and disarming. Harry Melling plays the mild Colin, whose gayness is happily accepted by his parents (Lesley Sharp and Douglas Hodge) and who is most extroverted when singing in a barbershop quartet. When this sweet-natured square catches the eye of strapping, leather-clad biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) at the local pub, he finds himself entering a submissive role—both domestic and erotic—for the inscrutable beauty who brings him both satisfaction and confusion, pain and pleasure. As their affair continues, Colin must decide what he wants and needs—and who he really is. Comic without ever descending into judgment of its characters, Pillion is a beguiling inquiry into the social and sexual performances of masculinity, featuring fearless work from Melling and Skarsgård. An A24 release.