Harry Lighton wanted the sex scenes in Pillion to feel “unvarnished and clumsy — and not like movie sex.”
The British writer-director’s debut feature tracks the relationship between Colin, a timid traffic warden played by Harry Melling, and Ray, the enigmatic and impossibly handsome leader of a gay motorcycle club, played by Alexander Skarsgård.
The hyper-dominant Ray takes the inexperienced Colin as his live-in submissive, and their pairing poses questions about the lines between control, devotion, and the possibility of real love. The film is based on Adam Mars-Jones’ celebrated novel Box Hill.
“‘Pillion’ means the passenger seat on a motorbike,” says Lighton, who made several acclaimed short films prior to Pillion. “Amongst bikers, it’s used as a term for the person who sits on that seat. Amongst gay bikers, if you’re a pillion, there’s a submissive charge to it.”
To understand the dynamic, Lighton cites a well-known kink maxim: “The sub holds the power.”
But the film lets the audience decide its central question: “Does Colin find liberation with Ray, or is it out of the frying pan, into the fire?” asks Lighton.’
Harry Lighton on Planning the Pillion Sex Scenes
Lighton worked with intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt to shape Pillion’s raw, explicit sex scenes — including an unforgettable wrestling-turned-sex scene and a sprawling outdoor orgy.
Taylor Hunt made sure the actors’ boundaries were established, Lighton says, including those of men in the gay biking community who were cast in the film without previous acting experience.
“From there, the entire cast, whether the core duo or the nine participants in the orgy, could collaborate to infuse the scenes with life and texture,” Lighton says.
Lighton worked meticulously with Taylor Hunt to create realism: “It always annoys me in films, in gay sex scenes specifically, when you see a dick be inserted or pulled out and you don’t feel that on the bottom’s face,” he notes.
So in such scenes, Skarsgård would give Melling a subtle touch cue to signal the moment for him to simulate the sensation.
The film keeps aspects of Colin and Ray’s dynamic ambiguous by pointedly avoiding moments when the characters verbally negotiate consent. Instead, their communication plays out in a nuanced arena of gestures, commands, and conditional compliance.
“One kink community member said they appreciated that I didn’t show contracts or protocols — that it would strip the eroticism from Ray’s character,” Lighton says.
The director says he is well aware that in real life, “setting boundaries is vital to avoid abuse.”
But he adds: “Fiction lets us explore the messy grey areas where consent can be intuitive, layered, and yes, sometimes risky.”
Lighton says he has never had a relationship like Ray and Colin’s, but knows people who have.
“I can’t imagine surrendering my agency for so long,” he says. “But I understand the freedom some find in choosing submission.”
Pillion arrives in theaters Friday from A24.
Main image: Harry Lighton, center, with actors Harry Melling, left, and Alexander Skarsgård. A24.
Editor’s Note: Corrects byline.
