[Trailer] Alexander Skarsgård Pushes Boundaries in A24’s Bold Gay Romance ‘Pillion’
A new trailer for Pillion, a new British romantic comedy, has been released, giving audiences a glimpse at Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in a story full of romance, humor, and edgy themes.
The film is directed and written by Harry Lighton, marking his directorial debut, and is based on Adam Mars-Jones’s 2020 novel Box Hill.
The story follows Colin, played by Harry Melling, a young gay man living with his family, including his terminally ill mother.
He meets Ray, portrayed by Skarsgård, a charismatic leader of a gay biker gang. Ray introduces Colin to a B**** relationship where he is expected to obey Ray’s every command, cook, clean, and participate in gang activities. The film explores the challenges, intimacy, and unexpected comedy in their unconventional relationship.
The cast also includes Douglas Hodge, Lesley Sharp, Jake Shears in his screen acting debut, Paul Tallis, Anthony Welsh, and Ralph Ineson. Jake Shears prepared for his role by reading The Leatherman’s Handbook, and the film consulted members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club, who appear as themselves in the movie.
Do you give? Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling star in PILLION, a love and leather dom-com from writer and director Harry Lighton. In theaters this February. pic.twitter.com/OVW0seZgYF
— A24 (@A24) October 1, 2025
Pillion had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, in the Un Certain Regard section. The screening received a seven-minute standing ovation. At Cannes, the film won Best Screenplay in its section and the Palm Dog award, and it was also nominated for the Caméra d’Or and the Queer Palm, according to Variety.
Filming took place in South East England between late July and early September 2024, with locations including Lullingstone Castle and Sevenoaks in Kent. Lighton confirmed that some scenes were cut from the Cannes version to avoid shocking audiences.
Skarsgård added, “There’s definitely a raunchier version of this movie… what you’ve seen is the family friendly version… there’s also the Alexander Skarsgård cut.”
Lighton explained, “It was purely because I didn’t want to push the audience into feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image. So for example, there was one close up of a d****, a hard d****… like down the barrel of the lens. And after watching the film on that ‘f****’ screen I thought, yeah, cutting it was probably the right decision!”
The film will be released in theaters in the United Kingdom on November 28, through Picturehouse, with A24 handling U.S. distribution. Early critical response has been very positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 17 reviews are favorable, and Metacritic gives the film a score of 85 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim.”
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