Harry Lighton
15 connections found
Filmography
View:
Connections, in both directions
Right off the bat, Harry Lighton’s directorial debut feels like a spiritual successor to the underappreciated “Secretary,” albeit framed through the queer gaze.
If you saw “Secretary” (2002), you have an idea of what you are in for, but the depiction of this kink is very different in terms of character development, narrative trajectory and relationship dynamics.
We’ve seen this dynamic before in media properties like Secretary, 50 Shades of Grey, and Stjepan Šejić’s must-read adult comic series Sunstone.
Like in Steven Shainberg’s SECRETARY, submission becomes a gateway for self-discovery, if not empowerment.
…like Lee Holloway in Secretary (2002), this film’s closest spiritual sibling, he’s largely unformed, just waiting for something to happen to him…
En ese sentido, la comparación inevitable con Fifty Shades of Grey resulta reveladora: donde aquella estetizaba el control desde una lógica comercial y edulcorada, Pillion propone una exploración más honesta y menos complaciente del poder y la sumisión.
Many people have pitched Pillion as a kind of LGTBQ spin on Fifty Shades of Grey, but I think that does a disservice.
We’ve seen this dynamic before in media properties like Secretary, 50 Shades of Grey, and Stjepan Šejić’s must-read adult comic series Sunstone.
The film has more in common with a mild, mumblecore comedy than all of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, despite the fact that Pillion also focuses on a BDSM relationship. What Pillion, adapted from the 2020 novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, understands better than Fifty Shades is how the BDSM community can be a safe place for people to discover themselves.
As in fellow kink think pieces Pillion (2025) and Truly Naked (2026), the lines between healthy and unhealthy submission aren’t clearly defined.
In a year that has already offered the dom-sub rom com Pillion, starring Henry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård, this is a subgenre with many stories to tell.
…nor is his portrayal of S&M kinkier than what’s seen in Sanctuary or Pillion…
The end result is a total commitment to Elliot and to the identity he assumes, so much so that the hilarious depth of his immersion is rivaled only by Harry Melling’s lead performance in Pillion (2025).
…an off limits kiss reminiscent of Pretty Woman has its consequences…
Pillion, a salty-sweet directorial debut from Harry Lighton that just premiered at Cannes, is the second BDSM-tinged romance that A24 is set to release in the stretch of a year, though unlike Babygirl, it’s queer and formally kinky.
No doubt comparisons will arise to another A24 movie, “Babygirl,” which last year put Nicole Kidman on all fours, crying out to Harris Dickinson that “I’m gonna pee!” when actually she was just having an orgasm with another person for the first time.
Think of writer-director Harry Lighton’s Pillion as a BDSM spin on David Lean’s Brief Encounter.
Lighton also draws inspiration from Kenneth Anger’s experimental short film Scorpio Rising (1963).
…the sexual content is too in-your-face for many moviegoers, and makes “Midnight Cowboy” look tame…
…with all the charm and humour of classic British movies like Beautiful Thing, Billy Elliot, and The Full Monty, with a contemporary and unashamedly kinky flavour…
…with all the charm and humour of classic British movies like Beautiful Thing, Billy Elliot, and The Full Monty, with a contemporary and unashamedly kinky flavour…
They want him to be happy and are encouraging so it is not like “Weekend” (2011) and “All of Us Strangers” (2023) where his loved ones do not consider his romantic needs.
…a pairing not unlike good girl Sandy falling for bad boy Danny in "Grease."
If you were to imagine Rodney from Only Fools and Horses taking his first tentative steps into the world of queer BDSM bikers, you wouldn’t be far off the tone of Harry Lighton’s sweet-natured but bracingly graphic Pillion…
They want him to be happy and are encouraging so it is not like “Weekend” (2011) and “All of Us Strangers” (2023) where his loved ones do not consider his romantic needs.
…with all the charm and humour of classic British movies like Beautiful Thing, Billy Elliot, and The Full Monty, with a contemporary and unashamedly kinky flavour…