Harry Melling plays Colin, an openly gay but quiet and reserved young man who lives at home with his father and terminally ill mother, Peggy. After singing in a Christmas barbershop quartet, Harry is spotted by enigmatic and unfeasibly handsome biker Ray (Skarsgard), who identifies him as someone with subservient tendencies. After a Christmas Day hook-up in a high street alleyway, Ray gives Colin the cold shoulder for months before taking him back to his house. Upon arrival, Colin discovers where his place in the household is, somewhere lower than the dog and slightly above the mud off Ray's shoe. He is tasked with completing all the daily chores, as well as anything else his master deems needing done, sleeps on the floor at the end of the bed, and is given no insight into who Ray is beyond their direct interactions. He is also welcomed into a gay, sub/dom biker gang and finds a whole new perspective on life.
Pillion presents both its characters and subject matter with such humanity and clarity that it's hard to believe this is writer/director Harry Lighton's feature film debut. This is an equally unvarnished and non-judgemental look at a subculture that rarely appears in films this glossy. Some will struggle with the graphic depictions of sex and the completely one-sided power dynamic that, without implicit consent, would very much constitute an abusive relationship, but the film has a clear point of view; just because a lifestyle isn't for you, doesn't mean it is inherently wrong.
How much this life is for Colin is the crux of the film. He is energised by having his eyes opened to a completely new world but whether he actually enjoys being somebody's property, or if he tolerates it simply to be with a man who, in terms of looks, confidence and charisma, is on another level to him, is unclear for much of the film. This ambiguity is perfectly summarised in an awkward family dinner scene. Finally agreeing to properly meet Colin's parents, Ray finds himself on the end of an angry rant from the concerned Peggy and tells her not to judge what she doesn't understand. She is concerned for her son, while he is defending her son's right to choose his own life. Both are correct.
Colin's journey is so engaging in large part thanks to Harry Melling's intricate central performance. Small, sheltered and radiating innocence, you fear for his emotional, and sometimes even physical, well-being at the hands of the gargantuan Ray. Whether looking like a lost puppy or expressing unfiltered wonder at the possibilities of his new life opening up before him, the former Dudley Dursley takes the viewer with him every step of the way.
Alexander Skarsgård's mysterious Ray is almost the complete opposite to the film's lead. A stoic closed book, we learn next to nothing about him. Not his occupation, not his last name, nor anything of his history. When asked about his exotic accent and where he calls home he simply, and hilariously, replies "Chislehurst", He figuratively and literally towers over his subordinate, the director leaning into Skarsgård's chiseled Scandinavian features and shooting him like a Viking giant. This is deftly complemented by the sound design as every zip pull and leather creak of his biker gear echoes from the speakers and the ground seems to shake under his boots.
Even Ray, though, is humanised by a third act that leaves Colin exactly where he needs to be. The completeness of Colin's journey, allied with a fantastic sense of humour, which imbues the BDSM world with an almost Carry-On style farce, softens what could have been a much more hard-edged story. Underneath the sex and power dynamics, Pillion is actually quite a sweet story of self-discovery and a reminder that coming of age tales aren't restricted to children.
8 alternative picnics out of 10.
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