In a London hotel room, Harry Melling demonstrates the art of boot-licking with unexpected expertise. "You want to give a decent, satisfying, sexy lick," explains the actor, once known as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films. "Once you get to the toe-cap, you need to make sure they can really feel your tongue through the leather."
From Cannes Acclaim to UK Cinemas
This unusual skill was acquired for his role in Pillion, the award-winning BDSM romantic comedy that captivated audiences at Cannes and arrives in UK cinemas on 28 November. Melling plays Colin, a timid traffic warden who becomes the willing submissive to Ray, a taciturn biker portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård.
Joining them is writer-director Harry Lighton, whose flat cap and roguish smile belie his status as one of Britain's most promising queer storytellers. Together, they've created what Skarsgård describes as "a film that celebrates people who exist on the outskirts" of society.
Authenticity Through Immersion
The film's authenticity stems from deep research into motorcycle and kink communities. Lighton and Melling spent time with the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club (GBMCC), some of whom appear in the film as members of Ray's gang.
"The organisation crosses over into leather culture but it isn't focused on sex," Lighton explains. The director even embarked on an eight-hour pillion ride himself, though he admits disappointment with his safety leathers: "I looked like a spaceman. My main preoccupation was that I wasn't getting the Grindr photos I'd hoped for."
While his co-stars immersed themselves in research, Skarsgård took a different approach to playing the enigmatic Ray. "I didn't create any backstory," he reveals. "It was great! The material lent itself to just showing up and doing it."
Adapting Transgressive Literature
Pillion adapts Adam Mars-Jones's award-winning novella Box Hill, though Lighton made significant changes to the 1970s-set story. Most notably, he removed the novel's rape scene and updated Colin to be an out gay man in his thirties.
"I wanted Ray to get consent from Colin in that first sexual encounter," Lighton says of the film's explicit alleyway scene near Primark on Christmas Day. The three collaborators worked carefully on this pivotal moment.
"We tried a version that felt aggressive, but we all wanted to pull back from that," Skarsgård recalls. Melling adds: "I'm so glad we did because in terms of Colin's entry point into the relationship, it opens up a whole other avenue."
The film doesn't shy away from raunchiness, though one particular shot didn't make the final cut. "Originally, there was a closeup of Ray's bell-end," Lighton confesses. "But it would have punctured the tension and raised a laugh."
Challenging Sanitised Pride
Beyond its exploration of BDSM relationships, Pillion makes a political statement about contemporary LGBTQ+ culture. Lighton expresses strong views about the "No Kink at Pride" discourse that has emerged as festivals become more mainstream.
"Now that Pride is a family event, there's this idea that kinks are unsuitable to be seen in public," he says. "But Pride began as a call to arms for queer people, so it's the marginalised ones, the kinksters, who should be given pride of place, not the families with five-year-olds."
Skarsgård agrees, praising the film's "warts-and-all" approach to subculture representation. "It's funny, it's sexy and you believe in the characters," he says. "We never wanted to pander to straight audiences but I also think my mum's gonna like the film. We didn't make it for her but she can enjoy it."
The film represents Lighton's feature debut after building reputation with acclaimed short films including Sunday Morning Coming Down and Wren Boys. His journey with Pillion saw him experiment with wildly different settings before returning to the motorcycle gang premise.
"I loved the DNA of the novel, but because it was my first film, I wanted to bend it out of shape to see how I could make it mine," he explains. "Hubris took me to ancient Rome." He even wrote versions set on a cruise ship and—according to rumour—in space, though he denies the latter.
Pillion opens in UK cinemas on 28 November, with US and Australian releases following in February 2025.
