What to watch: Pillion
Harry Lighton's debut feature immerses us in the Dom/Sub dynamic.
Pillion is filmmaker Harry Lighton's adaptation of Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones.
The story is an exploration of power dynamics - specifically the Dom/Sub kink that often appeals to queer men.
Colin (Harry Melling) is a timid man who is drawn to the dominant energy of Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) - a handsome man with a motorcycle.
Lighton finds a lot of humour in this story, without undercutting the tension and uncertainty surrounding Ray and the possibility that Colin is getting in over his head.
The film also doesn't shy away from the sexual energy of Dom/Sub relationships - everything feels fairly real and raw.
Skarsgård is good in this - he's good in everything - but he's possibly too classically good-looking for the role. While he definitely delivers the Tom of Finland fantasy, he's the kind of man that pretty much everyone would fall at his feet and do whatever he wanted.
Melling is an accomplished actor but this role gives him an opportunity to really flex his range - giving us a fully realised, flawed, human character that feels authentic and believable. Even if you can't connect with the allure of the Dom/Sub dynamic itself, it's easy to understand why Colin is drawn to that kind of relationship.
I liked this a lot.
