Sweet, shy Colin is having a shit time. His mother is terminally ill (but still trying to set him up with inappropriate men), his only hobby is barbershop quartet singing with his father, and to top it all, he’s a parking attendant.
Played with wide-eyed bemusement by an outstanding Harry Melling, Colin’s dreary existence changes dramatically when he meets very tall, exceedingly handsome and inscrutable biker Ray in a Bromley boozer. Ray, a fittingly stern Alexander Skarsgård, propositions him over a bag of crisps, and before he knows it, Colin’s licking Ray’s boots (and rather a lot more) by the bins next to Primark. Pillion starts as it means to go on; aligning its oddly innocent nature with extreme, hardcore imagery, and managing to give screwball humour an emotional gravitas. Think, if you will, Kenneth Anger’s horny, leather-clad opus Scorpio Rising as directed by Richard Curtis.
Think Scorpio Rising as directed by Richard Curtis
Based on Adam Mars-Jones’ 1970s-set novella Box Hill, and helmed by first-time director Harry Lighton, Pillion brings Ray and Colin’s unconventional relationship into the present day, with Colin happily (at first) taking on the role of Ray’s submissive, shaving his head, cooking him dinner and sleeping on a rug on the bedroom floor with a lock around his neck. Colin ingratiates himself with Ray’s gang – featuring real-life members of the historic Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club – which also includes fellow sub Kevin (a perky Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters in his on-screen debut) and a human puppy in a leather mask.
Cue a host of gloriously alive and fondly-shot scenes that muddle suburban mundanity with the deeply erotic, such as a weekend trip to the countryside which ends up in casual bout of al fresco group sex (‘Five Go Fucking’?), as well as a wholesome dose of wild swimming and a wrestling scene in Ray’s nondescript Chislehurst bachelor pad which makes Alan Bates and Oliver Reed’s infamous naked jousting in Women in Love seem like a chaste handshake.
Pillion is a wonderful film that’s heavy with purpose, from the comedy implicit in Ray’s brutally deadpan treatment of Colin, and Colin’s giddy acceptance, to Lesley Sharp’s (Naked) tender turn as Colin’s mother. It also raises serious questions around the unspoken line between a consensual BDSM relationship and emotional abuse, as well as the true cost of freedom within any romantic relationship and the boundaries we set for ourselves. All that and it’s also very, very hot.
In UK and Ireland cinemas Nov 28.