PILLION

Parking attendant Colin (Harry Melling) leads a mundane existence until he meets mysterious and alluring biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Before he knows it he finds himself in an intense submissive-dominant relationship, moving into Ray’s apartment where he’s expected to clean, cook, and sleep on the floor while Ray barely speaks to him or even looks in his direction. Their unbalanced power dynamic is centred around the concept of the “pillion.” In everyday terms this refers to the passenger seat behind the rider on a motorbike or the person sitting in it, but within the BDSM biker community the pillion is the submissive partner who surrenders their trust and control to the rider. As much as this is a love story about Colin falling for Ray, it’s also about him learning to love himself and realising he can establish his own rules and boundaries. The acting is phenomenal. Melling is as far removed from his days as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter film franchise as he can get. He peels back Colin’s evolution with an innocent sensitivity. Skarsgård plays Ray as a robotic man of few words, who tries to keep his emotions suppressed at all times. Interestingly Ray’s group of biker friends are real life BDSM practitioners rather than just actors. My favourite character is Colin’s mother Peggy (Lesley Sharp) who isn’t afraid to speak her mind about how Ray is treating her son. An engaging, queer “dom-com” about a journey of self discovery.