Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Pillion’ Opens in UK and Ireland to Strong Reviews for Explicit, Tender BDSM Romance

Reviews spotlight an explicit, authentic portrait of queer kink that also raises questions about consent.

Overview

  • Pillion began its theatrical run in the UK and Ireland on 28 November, arriving to broadly positive notices from national outlets.
  • Harry Lighton makes his feature debut with a loose adaptation of Adam Mars-Jones’s Box Hill, starring Harry Melling as Colin and Alexander Skarsgård as Ray.
  • Critics describe the film as graphic yet unexpectedly sweet, emphasizing an unsensational tone alongside explicit sex and an 18 certificate.
  • Real members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club and the kink community appear on screen, a choice reviewers say adds lived-in authenticity.
  • Conversation is growing around how the dom/sub dynamic handles consent, even as Melling says he felt very comfortable filming the sex scenes and Skarsgård drives a high-profile, leather-forward press tour following a warm Cannes reception.