Love wears many faces, and in Harry Lighton’s “Pillion,” it rides on the back of a motorcycle where power and desire collide. Based on the novel, “Box Hill: A Story of Low Self-Esteem,” written by Adam Mar-Jones, this film follows two lovers and their fairly imbalanced relationship.
Colin (Harry Melling) is on a quest to find a boyfriend, even gaining some help from his mom, Peggy (Lesley Sharp). From the beginning, Colin is painted as an inexperienced, wholesome guy looking for a genuine connection, that is, until he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), a handsome, chiseled biker gang member.
Lighton does not shy away from the taboo nature of this gay relationship. Only 15-minutes into the movie, the audience knows Ray’s goals with Colin. “Do you give?” Ray says followed by the first intimate interaction in the back of an alleyway.
Colin, quite frankly, gives in and throughout the rest of the movie there is a deep understanding that Colin will do anything Ray asks him to. He quickly learns that his role in this relationship is to serve Ray. Colin does the cooking, the cleaning, the shopping, even sleeps on the floor because Ray doesn’t allow him to use the bed.
Out of all the couples in the movie, Colin and Ray are the most unlike each other. They meet at a bar, where Colin is dressed head to toe in his barbershop quartet outfit. While Ray pulls up in a full leather biking suit. To the audience, they are complete polar opposites, yet they seem to make it work.
After their first sexual interaction in the alleyway, Ray has obviously done this before. He zips up his pants, puts his jacket on, and with a stone cold face, he leaves. Colin runs after him trying to get a date that does not include sexual implications or in this particular scene, bootlicking, yet as Ray drifts off into a neighboring street, Colin can’t help himself but thank him.
As their relationship progresses, it becomes clear the film follows Colin’s experience. The audience knows nothing about Ray, other than the constant demands he gives Colin. Although there is not a single demand Colin turns down, he keeps submitting himself to Ray, whatever the request is. In simple terms, he is being treated as a pet. Lighton said Ray was meant to have an unanswered background, it made him more fascinating to viewers and kept curiosity running. He needed the audience to believe Ray had a background story, but he never intended to showcase him.
It’s hard to call this film a rom-com, since the only romance involved is covered in leather. The audience waits for Colin to break, but throughout most of the film, he seems to be enjoying Ray’s dominance. His crystal clear character development, however, shows viewers how much Colin changed for this relationship.
He is no longer the innocent man Lighton made him out to be in the beginning. Instead, he has a master, who controls where he sleeps, when he can come home, everything about his life is under the direction of Ray. Though Ray is not seen as the villain, instead the audience can accept how he treats Colin and their relationship, afterall, who are we to judge?
Melling and Skarsgård deliver phenomenal performances. Melling fits right into his unique, timid character, while also pushing boundaries. He keeps the audience curious, trying to figure out whether he likes this new life or not. Skarsgård, on the other hand, was expected to serve that bad-boy look, but he does it with a hidden sense of sensitivity.
At the end of the film, Colin and Ray develop past their original characteristics. “Pillion” is no longer just a film about their kinky relationship, it’s self-discovery. First experiences and relationships are sometimes supposed to live in the past, and this film gorgeously attests to that. First timer’s or not, what is unhealthy will kill your self-worth.
“Pillion” played at Coolidge Corner Theater Feb. 9 to commemorate Lighton on his Breakthrough Artist Award, which is well deserved. Lighton traveled with the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club in London to achieve a level of authenticity to this film. He even casted some members in the movie to make his vision come to life.
Lighton turns an unconventional story into a comedic “romance” that reminds us: no matter who holds the handlebars, we are the ones who choose the direction of our own life. “Pillion” will be released in Boston Feb. 13, and nationwide Feb. 20.
