US EditionAlexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling on the surprisingly sweet BDSM romance ‘Pillion’
The film "Pillion" blends explicit BDSM scenes with a sweet, comedic tone, highlighting a dom-sub relationship and has garnered positive reactions from both BDSM community and general audiences.
- On Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, and filmmaker Harry Lighton promoted Pillion in New York as it reaches North American theaters after a Cannes premiere last year.
- Skarsgård portrays an enigmatic member of a gay biker club who begins a dominant–submissive relationship with Colin, with the film balancing explicit sex and a sweet, comedic tone.
- The filmmaker refused to sanitize sex scenes, with backing from executive producers, and said the screenplay was originally more explicit than the final film.
- Reception-first: early audiences and family responses suggest strong support for Melling's role, with Skarsgård having watched the film at least four times and screened it with his father, Stellan.
- Industry debate over sex-positive or negative labels persists as Lighton and Skarsgård point to past indie hits like Heated Rivalry, resisting binary classifications.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Harry Melling & Harry Lighton say a bittersweet goodbye to 'Pillion'
Pillion has been one of the buzziest films of both 2025 and now 2026, and for good reason. The film marks writer-director Harry Lighton’s feature film debut and stars Alexander Skarsgård alongside Harry Melling as Ray and Colin, two gay men entering into a strict BDSM romance that has captured the imaginations of moviegoers and queer audiences around the world.It offers a rare glimpse into a world that some know well, and that others have little…
Alexander Skarsgård Is Loving His Freak Era And So Are We!
In Pillion, Harry Lighton's dramedy about the relationship between a meek traffic warden and the biker who takes him on as his submissive, Alexander Skarsgård is impossibly handsome. That's not just me saying that. It's a line from the film,... Read more...
Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling on the surprisingly sweet BDSM r
Alexander Skarsgård doesn’t usually watch his movies more than once with an audience. But “Pillion,” in which he plays the enigmatic member of gay biker club who begins a dom-sub relationship with a younger, more inexperienced man, Colin (Harry Melling), has been an exception. He’s seen it at least four times. It’s partly because “Pillion” has been coming out for so long. The film premiered last year at the Cannes Film Festival before going on t…
The story of the Bdsm love story between Alexander Skarsgård's Ray and Harry Melling's Colin doesn't embellish, it doesn't simplify, it doesn't censor: the dynamics remain complex. But there's everything you ask of a movie for the feast of lovers: desire, eroticism and romance (with moments of irresistible comicity)
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