'Pillion' is a Methodical Motorcycle Ride
Not bad for a feature directorial debut. Filmmaker Harry Lighton’s Pillion is the perfect date movie, depending on how comfortable you are with watching men go at it. Pillion can be very graphic, yet not visually, mostly in the sound department. It has one of the best head scenes put on the screen in some time. Mostly because it does a neat job encapsulating the film, it’s about domination, intimacy (obviously), and connection. Our protagonist, Colin (Harry Melling), has the choice to abandon what he’s doing. He’s not being forced to perform the act he’s performing, yet he does so because he likes being submissive. His independence is something Colin struggles to discover because he is trapped in arrested development by his overly loving, enabling parents. Yes, the scene, like the movie, enjoys being naughty, but it’s not quite an anti-establishment picture, nor is it a movie about a different class of people being chastised for loving who they love. In many ways, Pillion is a much better version of Call Me By Your Name.
The picture opens on Colin being part of a barbershop quartet, singing Christmas Carols to patrons in a restaurant on a cold, snowy December night. Colin isn’t in the best place. He hands out parking tickets for a living. When people give him flak for his job (which I think we all do to parking ticketers), Colin tells them that he’s just following orders. Pay close attention to those words, because they practically define Colin’s character. He’s kind of a pushover. The man doesn’t have much confidence, which is probably why he still lives with his parents. Having no real direction in life, Colin one day runs into Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), an American biker residing in the UK. Ray is a bear within the gay community. In other words, he’s the tough guy.
As stated in the film’s logline and synopsis, Colin becomes Ray’s submissive. We never really know how Ray feels about Colin until much later. Does he love him, or is he just another mouth for his pleasure? A water boy who will do whatever he says. Whether it be pleasuring him or sleeping on the ground, with little agency, Colin begins to build confidence while also being his bub's bottom. Where the film really shines is its non-judgmental approach. There’s a lot of sado masochism in this picture. Yet it doesn’t depict leather wearing sexauality as something taboo. It’s merely accepted as a form of expression. The leather helps give Colin much of his confidence. It makes him feel like he’s part of a group. It’s a form of love and acceptance, not weird perversions.
In case you were confused by what a Pillion is, it’s a motorcycle, the object that initially drew Colin to Ray. Or at least one of the things that drew Colin to him. There’s no question about it, Ray is a good-looking man who’s way past Colin’s class, yet he’s lucky enough to score him. Most films about same sex relationships would focus on the couple being gay in a straight, homophobic world. Not in this case. Perhaps it’s because the movie takes place in current-day settings where, despite our world leaders, homosexuality is more accepted. Where gay used to be a slang term representing something unusual or lame, it is now widely regarded as inappropriate language. Our attitude towards same sex relationships has changed, and for the best. Pillion is one of those movies that shows how sex can free one's mind. Before scoring Ray, Colin is just another lost kid. After scoring him, he’s still lost, but he's found a sense of confidence and purpose while, ironically, being the beta in a relationship.
Some folks don’t want to be alphas. Not everyone needs to be a leader. There are plenty of followers who don’t need to galvanize a group. Probably because most of us (despite sexual orientation) are followers more than leaders, despite all this free will, Colin eventually pushes back. Is he really freed psychologically, or is he a prisoner to his own desires? There are no easy answers to whether Colin is being used. It’s implied that Ray cares for him, but it’s never made abundantly clear, leaving it up for the audience to decide where his heart lies.
Good movies leave questions open as long as they’re not coy about it. If there is a problem with this love story, it’s that the third act is a drag, even for an intentionally slow-moving film. By the fifth time Colin is ordered to cook and sleep on the floor, it becomes a relief to have caffeine to keep one from falling asleep. Even for its snail-like pace, there’s really no love story like Pillion. Not just because it’s a kind look at homosexuality, but also because it examines belonging, submissiveness, and desire that haven’t been explored so well in some time.
