Vassilis Kroustallis reviews the gay BDSM dramedy 'Pillion' by Harry Lighton.
Is 'Pillion' the dom-com film we were looking for? UK screenwriter and director Harry Lighton certainly hit a nerve in his freshman feature 'Pillion' (based on the novel "Box Hill" by Adam Mars-Jones) and the UK biker BDSM culture. In an age in which equality must be ensured at every level, he made a film about a situation in which equal partners cannot be the norm, yet this relationship must somehow survive.
Far removed from the homophobic tropes of 1977's infamous 'Cruising', and tailored to a coming-of-age story, 'Pillion' follows shy but devoted Colin (Harry Melling) as he lives with his ill mum and dad in a London suburb. It's Christmas, and gay Colin's only entertainment is singing in a barbershop quartet in a nearby pub -while feeling uncomfortable with dates set by his mum Peggy (Lesley Sharpe). The opportunity arrives when the "impossibly handsome" biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård, in his best film role to date) comes to the pub and impresses Colin with his no-holds-barred masculinity. It's a free-floating dominant-submissive relationship from now on.
Of course, we were warned. The film's opening song, an adaptation of Peggy March's 'I Will Follow' by the Italian Betty Curtis ('Chariot'), sets the mood for this unusual, but not toxic love story (even though difficult). Ray is made an enigma so difficult to decipher that could easily be one of Colin's wet dream imagination -and one that Peggy nails in one of the most confronting film scenes. But, other than that, 'Pillion' introduces us in a daring but smooth way to the world of one-to-one BDSM relationships; along with Colin, we learn how to move in a relationship in which role play matters. And this is the heart of this crafted film, that roles matter in more ways than we are ready to acknowledge in our everyday and romantic relationships. Love (a topic that comes up in the second half of 'Pillion') is not something outside those roles, but has to coexist -and that's a strong enough statement.
In the meantime, sex is calculated but still daring for a coming-of-age gay dramedy. Even though it is part of Colin and Ray's relationship, it is never the primary factor by which their relationship is judged (and, in that sense, the film misses an opportunity to explore more intense coming out of personalities through sexual intimacy). On the other hand, 'Pillion', with its cosy, calm London landscapes (photographed in a suave way by Nick Morris), safely places us in the territory of calm exploration. Colin knows what he wants (he has 'an aptitude for devotion', he repeatedly utters), but he is still unaware of the means to get his sexual and romantic self into action; Ray's way of living will be used more by Colin than Ray dominates Colin. It is a two-way exchange of knowledge and affection; both parties want something different from each other, but they may not get exactly the same thing.
The film's tone is, therefore, a playful one -and sometimes, even delightfully funny, when Ray reminds Colin of the small-time uselessness of his London nightlife, uttering lines that could have come out of 'The Devil Wears Prada'.
Both actors are a terrific match for each other, with the kinetic, talkative Melling matched by the inexpressive, hard-boiled, statue-of-beauty Ray, and the intimacy coordinator has certainly helped their onscreen interaction. The film's overall environment and its biker culture situate the film in a niche but still inviting subculture (which doesn't need drugs or crime to assert itself). Music (by Oliver Coates) puts mild electronic pop sounds to the forefront of a film that doesn't look to impress, but rather to enter a different milieu (with the same tenets that accompany all relationships).
'Pillion' has a very confident script in an area in which all kinds of fears reside, from body objectification to easy dismissal. It respects both its characters and their needs, and its relationship trajectory is tested and adds to the BDSM spice. This is a story we instantly recognize, but it is refreshingly and queerly updated.
Vassilis Kroustallis
