Last year’s The Bikeriders didn’t shy away from the sexiness of biker pursuits, including an unconventional love triangle involving Tom Hardy and Austin Butler, but Pillion is here to take biker romance straight into kinky territory. That promise is only heightened by Alexander Skarsgård’s starring role in this movie, which in retrospect might be a natural progression after Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool, in which Skarsgård spent some time on a leash, and Robert Eggers’ The Northman, in which he infamously threw himself into a naked battle scene atop a volcano.
Whew. It’s little wonder why Skarsgård didn’t mind downshifting intensity in Murderbot to cleanse his palate after Pillion, but that isn’t to say that he didn’t enjoy making the A24 film that recently debuted at Cannes. Quite the contrary, so let’s unlock the chains on what to expect.
Plot
The A24 stamp of approval arrived with the Cornerstone Films title’s October 2024 acquisition, and at Cannes, Pillion received a 7-minute standing ovation that seemingly places it above several other premiering titles this year. What is Pillion about? The sparse description for the Harry Lighton-directed queer love story reads as follows: “A directionless man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.”
That directionless dude would be Colin, portrayed by Harry Melling (The Queen’s Gambit, The Pale Blue Eye), who finds himself in an unorthodox romance with Ray, an imposing biker portrayed by Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood, Big Little Lies). Hints suggest that Ray will open up more as the film progresses, yet an introductory encounter between Ray and Colin includes the Dom requiring the sub to sleep at the foot of his bed. Naturally, the more sensational aspects of the movie involve the sexual relationship between the two men and the movie’s orgy scenes.
Yes, you definitely read that correctly. Skarsgård got frank with Deadline about how much he enjoyed that part of the gig:
“The sex scenes, the orgy scenes were very fun and playful. Robbie, the intimacy coordinator, was fantastic in helping because it got messy. There’s lots of people and lots of moving parts. But he was terrific in just orchestrating, choreographing it and also knowing when to step back and let us go with it and when to kind of step in. Those were exciting days, absolutely.”
The script hails from Harry Lighton as well with Cornerstone Films initially marketing the story as “equally compelling and shocking as it is funny and entertaining.” Lighton recently told Vanity Fair that the film’s graphic nature meant that certain practicalities emerged, and “[o]nce we got into the nitty-gritty, it emerges that you can’t just chuck a load of dicks on screen.” Sentiment ended up ruling some moments over sensationalism, but naturally, Skarsgård expressed that he was “very, very comfortable” with the nudity:
“I knew that it was going to be graphic, and Harry was very clear on his vision for it—when and how nudity was going to be depicted. I felt that it really served the story, and it made sense to me. I was very, very comfortable with all that. We had a really terrific intimacy coordinator named Robbie [Taylor Hunt] who was there with us the whole way.”
As for Melling, he revealed that choreography was key for the orgy scenes, and Skarsgård was “the most generous, dreamy scene partner, so what could have been quite a daunting experience couldn’t have been more different.”
Cast
Skarsgård and Melling take center stage with other cast members including Anthony Welsh, Douglas Hodge, Billy King, Lesley Sharp, Jake Sharp, and Brian Martin.
Release Date
A24 hasn’t revealed a theatrical release date yet for Pillion, which made a splash at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Trailer
We want to see a trailer as bad as the rest of the world, but for now, memory lane exists with Skarsgård telling Conan how much he enjoys being naked.