PILLION

(director/writer: Harry Lighton; screenwriter: novel by Adam Mars-Jones; cinematographer: Nick Morris; editor: Gareth C. Scales; music: Oliver Coates; cast: Harry Melling (Colin), Alexander Skarsgård (Ray), Douglas Hodge (Pete), Lesley Sharp (Peggy); Runtime: 107; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Emma Norton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe; A24/BBC; 2025-UK/Ireland)

“Bittersweet and amusing queer rom/com.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
The filmmaking debut of the Brit writer/director Harry Lighton is this bittersweet and amusing queer rom/com. It’s based on the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones.

The title “Pillion” is defined as the back seat of a motorcycle.

Colin (Harry Melling) is a quiet young man who lives in London with his parents (Lesley Sharp &Douglas Hodge) and sings in a pub on Sundays with his ailing dad’s barbershop quartet, and works as a traffic enforcement officer. After a night performance he meets the handsome leather-clad biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). They date on Christmas Eve and have great sex, as Colin submits to the dominant Ray’s wishes and becomes his servant.

Their relationship blossoms and they end up spending a normal day together, as Colin turns the tables and becomes for the first time the dominant party.

It ends with the barbershop quartet singing “Smile Though your Heart is Breaking.” 

It played at the Cannes Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 7/21/2026  GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com