Pillion (2025)
Directed by Harry Lighton
Colin, a timid man, meets Ray, a confident biker gang leader, who initiates him into a submissive relationship, challenging Colin’s mundane existence and prompting personal growth through their unconventional dynamic.
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17 films that influenced Pillion
What critics say influenced Pillion
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.
…an off limits kiss reminiscent of Pretty Woman has its consequences…
On Curtis, rather than any one film
Don’t expect anyone to go running through an airport, Richard Curtis style…
…if anybody expected something akin to a Richard Curtis film, they will be promptly surprised…
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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.
Director
Kenneth Anger
Critics invoke Anger by name, and compare Pillion to 1 of Anger’s films.
Visuals
On Anger, rather than any one film
I, for one, would be surprised to see the Kenneth Anger/John Waters crowd give Harry Lighton the seal (whip?) of approval…
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…
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…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…