There's no better time for a movie like Pillion than now.
Watching gay filmmaker Harry Lighton's superb debut feature Pillion sitting next to my gay friends in a packed theater on a Sunday night in Los Angeles reminded me exactly why I love being gay in 2026.
In an age where online discourse says that kink doesn't belong at Pride, when Republicans call every gay person who talks to someone younger than them a "groomer," and certain members of the LGBTQ+ are fighting to be seen as "the good ones" so they aren't targeted by those same Republicans
Pillion, named for the back seat (also known as the "bitch seat") on a motorcycle, stars Harry Melling (Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter movies) as a shy and polite young gay man living with his parents who enters a whirlwind BDSM relationship, and a community of kinky gay bikers and leather lovers, with an enigmatic older biker named Ray (Alexander Skarsgård).
Over the next months, their dynamic develops through wrestling matches, gay sex, Ray leaving shopping and chore lists for Colin, plenty of bike rides, and a thick chain collar around Colin's neck.
It's more than Colin could've ever dreamed of. Scenes where he's riding on the pillion of Ray's bike emphasize the sublime beauty of finding your perfect relationship dynamic.
When Colin starts asking for more, things get complicated. Colin wants Ray to meet his parents, including his mother, who is dying of cancer, and eventually, he wants to have a day off from their dynamic every now and again.
While Ray is a stoic master of stone-cold masculinity in dom mode, his vulnerability and emotional hang-ups start to shine through when he's not in complete control.
The movie doesn't just follow Colin as he gets to know Ray, but as he gets to know a whole new world of kink, power dynamics, leather, sex, and community.
As Colin is welcomed into Ray's world of gay leather daddies, pups, doms, and subs, he finds a new family made up of real-life members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club, including Paul Tallis, who plays a pup.
Skarsgård and Melling are perfect foils for each other, with Skarsgård being over a decade older than Melling, and Melling's bright-eyed, bushy-tailed performance makes him seem younger than he is.
Melling and Sarsgard definitely shine, but I equally enjoyed the small, often dialogue-less performances and appearances from the real kinksters, including one scene where Tallis, fully decked out in his pup gear, playfully chases a motorcycle. These queer kinksters are loudly and proudly who they are, shining like a polished leather boot for all to see.
Pillion is undeniably sexy, and the sex scenes are among some of the best in recent movie memory. Lighton knows what makes sex and kink work, and knows how to film in a way that makes intimate scenes both approachable and aspirational. Many films about kink don't understand the romanticism of the dynamics; Lighton certainly does.
Even when Ray and Colin are being their manliest selves, Pillion lovingly shows how masculine feats of strength and flirtatious wrestling can be just as romantic, or as heartbreaking as buying someone flowers or writing them a poem.
While Pilliion is far kinkier and hornier than anything you'll see in 50 Shades of Grey or an Emerald Fennell movie, it is just as much a tender love story and a heartwarming coming-of-age tale as it is a sexual film.
By taking a holistic approach to appreciating the queer kink community, Lighton has crafted a stunningly sexy and wonderfully tender gay romance. Hopefully, more movies like this will be made soon.
Pillion is playing in theaters now.
Out review: 5 out of 5 stars
