The Vintagent Trailers: A preview of our favorite feature films out there.
Pillion (2025)
Run Time: 1:46:00
Producer: Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe
Director: Harry Lighton
Writer: Harry Lighton, Adam Mars-Jones
Key Cast: Harry Melling, Alexander Skarsgård, Douglas Hodge
FILM MAKERS
Pillion is a 2025 romantic dark comedy drama film written and directed by Harry Lighton, based on the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. The film stars Harry Melling as a timid gay man and Alexander Skarsgård as an enigmatic biker who start a BDSM relationship. The film’s name, Pillion, is of course, the British term for the passenger seat behind the driver on a motorcycle, which serves as a metaphor for the submissive role in Colin and Ray’s BDSM relationship.
Director Harry Lighton spent a weekend with real members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club, members of which who later served as advisors for the film and appeared in it as members of the gay biker gang. The members of the GBMCC also attended the film’s premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
In theaters now!
SUMMARY
The most romantic film ever made.
A directionless man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive. A sensual, funny and thoroughly unconventional love story.
It wouldn’t be Cannes without a good scandal film. For 2025, British director Harry Lighton’s feature debut Pillion may be the one that sends the most people clutching their pearls. Centered on a dom-sub relationship within the gay biker milieu, it features depictions of fetishistic sex acts that could trigger a few sensitive souls. It would be a shame, however, if all attention is directed at the kinks and shocks––Lighton has made a truly provocative anti-romance that’s funny, honest, strangely touching. It’s an exceptional balance act that makes Pillion the unlikeliest crowd-pleaser. – Read more in The Film Stage review.
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Well … my first thought was …. not to comment on this at all ( almost anything one could say could be taken wrong creating a ***t load of controversy
But after reading both the review linked as well as others … it seems calling this ” The most romantic film ever ” is a pretty serious error in judgement
Especially when each and every reviewer has termed this Anti Romantic ! At best !
Delving further into the story line .. well my dear … unless you have a penchant/ addiction for Domination S&M and Absolute Control … this aint no romantic film of any kind … fact is … its pretty much a warning … regardless of ones … errr .. predilections
Don’t know if Arlen Ness would have been thrilled at seeing one of his jackets in this particular show.Talk about product placement!
Fair enough question ;
All bets are ..as long as ole AN made money from it .. I doubt he’d of cared less … question is … did ole AN …provide the jacket ?? … hmmm …. knowing Arlen … hmmm … could be .. seeing as who a LOT of his clothing customers were. back then …
….. hmmm …. can never keep track of what the current nomenclature is … so … oh well … you know….
So errr …. Hmmm … unless Corey decides to speak up …. guess we’ll never know … but knowing Arlen’s love of the almighty dollar … and his lack of concern as to who bought what from him long as they paid ….and knowing how branding/product placement works in Film & TV … my guess is … odds are he not only knew .. but provided the jacket … as well as may of paid a fee to do so …
Ahhh the love of the almighty $$$$ … and the compromises that entails
“…and the contestants are now lined up for the golden shower competition.On your mark…”
It is the official tagline for the film. And obviously intentional.
The film has a collection of fantastic references to heterosexual motorcycle film (in all its depraved uncomfortable “glory”. It is dark, touching, and funny! …Just like its official tagline.
As a moto film historian (and a woman) I will also confirm that it doesn’t even have the most uncomfortable camping orgy scene I’ve ever seen. I’m happy to provide a “property of” heterosexual rape scene playlist from the classics that shaped the genre) as illustration if needed.
It seems that as expected, the only difference in reception with this film is the group depicted in this film. As to that, I will offer that this group has a relationship code exactly like the ones fetishized in classic biker cinema. The owner and the property. In that relationship, the line is never crossed.
This film shows a young man experimenting in this world by choice and ultimately finding his own voice and boundaries as he looks for love. It is a story from the “properti’es” perspective that is not ever a theme in biker films. Hence it is a modern twist.
I hope you’ll give it a chance as a modern twist on a genre. And one individual love story in all its messiness. It won’t break you, I promise… unless you allow it to 😉
*As to Arlen ness. Whether it was paid product placement or not is irrelevant. It’s a brand that has been a prominent in gay biker culture for decades. Fairly sure Arlen already clutched his pearls over that customer group by now (if he was ever going to). Same as any other name brand or style you’d like to attribute to “straight” biker culture, It is simply the correct accurate costume designer choice for the film.
So lets get ugly kiddo so in the future you’ll avoid th embarrassment of under estimating me .
Todays subject .. cultural interactions ;
1st steady paid gig – With a Trans singer playing the Bath Houses back in the day
2nd … In a ‘ power / blues trio playing exclusively at a major 1%er bar .. and yeah … complete with chicken wire in front of the stage …. that aint jes fiction
Later on down the road …. guitar player for a gay female singer of some note . Thats was an easy adjustment … till one night at the bar during a break I found myself competing with the singer for the same young woman . Suffice it to say singer 1 .. gtrslngr .. 0 that night
Multiple pit band gigs in musicals .( off and on Broadway ).. which draw in a whole host of diversity beyond most folks imaginations
Three years in a NYC … hmmm … prog punk band ( think Patti Smith or Television ) talk about diverse crowds …
A long history in jazz … which in and of itself is a bastion for diversity .
And then there’s the Italian side of the family …. from Catanzaro ( and all that that implies ) let yer imagination run wild on that’n
etc … etc … et al … suffice it to say to paraphrase the words of the Bard ( Johnny Cash )
” I’ve seen everything girl … I’ve seen everything ”
GTR …
Wonderful points Corinna: Pillion is a twist on a very conventional genre, and lifestyle. All those ‘property of’ club cuts…and I laughed out loud at the Arlen Ness gear. Big bad bikers hate it pointed out how gay they appear…First to clock it in film was Jean Cocteau in ‘Orphée’, then Kenneth Anger in ‘Scorpio Rising’ (both of which you can watch on The Vintagent), and Tom of Finland made a career of it!
” *As to Arlen ness. Whether it was paid product placement or not is irrelevant. It’s a brand that has been a prominent in gay biker culture for decades. Fairly sure Arlen already clutched his pearls over that customer group by now (if he was ever going to). Same as any other name brand or style you’d like to attribute to “straight” biker culture, It is simply the correct accurate costume designer choice for the film.”
Hmmm …. seems to me although perhaps a bit too cryptic about it…. in order to avoid the inevitable backlash from our Antipode troll ( which came anyway )… I already made that point quite clear … e.g.
[ hmmm …. knowing Arlen … hmmm … could be .. seeing as who a LOT of his clothing customers were. back then …
….. hmmm …. can never keep track of what the current nomenclature is … so … oh well … you know….]
Skipped over that ? Ot just unable to comprehend subtlety ?
>>> Oh .. and by the way …. paid or not is anything but irrelevant when it comes to product placement in film and TV … and IF you truly are any kind of film historian … you damn well should know that !!!!!!!
As for the rest off your response …. well my dear … as a person of a certain age who’s spent more time around more groups of people that I’ll guess you even know exist ( seriously Corrina … how the hell does one succeed in music and the arts from age 16 on without being exposed to the gay community etc and all its facets ) not to mention having been INVOLVED … in both the film and TV industry on several levels .. which is to say … I didn’t study it … I was surrounded by it …
… not to mention each and every review I’ve read of this film ( which to be honest the amateur hour acting alone is a major turn off ) disagreeing with you including many from the alphabet soup community ( LGBTQ+ WTF ????????? ) crying the abuse etc .
I gotta say … and truth be known you’ve done this previously … you’re allowing your need to make something out of nothing in order to justify your self proclaimed title ( Motorcycle Film Historian ??? WTF ??? ) once again get in the way of solid fact based criticism .
Not to say kiddo … that you haven’t scored more than a few wins along the way … cause you have …. but in desperation to validate yourself … you’ve found more than your fair share of blatantly abject losers as well … this being one of them
Rule # 1 Crap is crap no matte what the intent … perceived or otherwise ( READ Robert Hughes … along with LJK Setright for an M/C perspective )
Rule #2 Never ever call crap good in order to validate yourself
Rule #3 Never ever try to justify BS in order to justify yourself
But trust me … I get it ( unfortunately ) yours and all the generations following are ” running lose totally devoid of context ” ..(. Brian ENO } blinded by digital BS posing as profound …. not to mention completely addled by alt definitions and alt history … as well as a lack of first hand experience in the real world .
And on a purely psychological level ( oh … sorry … ole Renaissance man GTR studied graduate level psychology as well .. ) .. this film aint about love … its about obsession ( the complete opposite of love ) control ( ditto ) abuse ( double ditto ) etc regardless of the sexual predications involved
And ahh … WTF ever proclaimed ANY 1%er biker film as being romantic ? Answer … nobody
Sigh …. oh well … my guess is once again the Curse of Cassandra ( greek mythology all too true ) will descend upon the wisdom I’m imparting upon you as it has with so many others .
Funny thing though … those who have learned from me … have gone on to great things
Hmmmm ….. sigh …. oh well ………………
Hmm,inaresting.Did gunslinger ever play any gigs at say the St. Marks Baths maybe?