Kimber Myers
Wuthering Heights is being marketed as the movie to see for Valentine’s Day 2026, but if Emerald Fennell’s adaptation hews even a little closely to Emily Brontë’s novel and the fucked-up relationships therein, it’ll be far from the most romantic option in theaters. That honor goes to the swoony, sexy Pillion. Reader, I sighed and cried over the love in this gay BDSM rom-com like it was a Jane Austen adaptation. This might not be what the girls are asking for when they’re saying they want more romantic comedies, but it’s exactly what they—and we—all need. Pillion is a bold, bawdy film told through small looks and big feelings. It broke my heart and put it back together again.
Our hero is sweetly nerdy Colin (Harry Melling), who is in a barbershop quartet with his dad (Douglas Hodge), still lives with his parents, and earns a living as a parking enforcement officer in Bromley, England. While on a blind date at the pub set up by his mum (Lesley Sharp), he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), an enigmatic biker who speaks softly and carries a big dick. Colin is alternately confused and extremely turned on by Ray’s unexplained demands, but he soon learns the ropes of their dom-sub relationship—and learns that he really likes both their dynamic and Ray himself.
A decade ago, if you’d told me that True Blood’s Eric Northman and the Harry Potter series’ Dudley Dursley would be the hottest on-screen couple I’d seen in a minute, I’m not sure I would have believed you (but it’s far from the craziest thing happening in 2026). The off-screen personas of the two actors play into the audience’s expectations of this relationship—as do their looks—but that doesn’t discount the work that Skarsgård and Melling are doing in their performances. The Swedish star is always game for anything, and he brings both a heat and chill to the reticent Ray. Melling is more of a surprise; he displays such tenderness and desire as he discovers more of who he is and what he likes. His Colin is eager to please, and it works as much with Ray as it does for the viewer.
All of the nuances in these performances are captured in close-ups by director of photography Nick Morris. Intimate camerawork doesn’t only serve to highlight the intimacy of moments between these characters, but it also explores the way both Colin and Ray feel in every second of their interactions. As befits a film named after the passenger seat on a bike, there are also lots of images of motorcycles racing down the motorway, and there’s as much of a reckless, wild energy to these moments as there is in the sex scenes.
With its depiction of the kinky sex between Colin and Ray (as well as what happens in Ray’s biker gang), Pillion is explicit and extreme but it’s never truly excessive. I wouldn’t watch this with my grandmother (mostly because she’s dead), but it somehow maintains an R rating, thanks to some artful angles. It is pretty graphic, if that’s not your thing, but if that’s not your thing, then what are you even doing here? As far as the BDSM angle, if that’s not your thing, Pillion is still quite sexy while serving as a bit of an education. It has the type of details and specifics about this subculture that create an entire world, which most of the audience is being introduced to alongside Colin.
This deeply felt coming-of-age story marks a self-assured feature debut for writer-director Harry Lighton, based on the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. As hopeful and sweet as it is, Pillion also exudes a lot of confidence in telling such an achingly romantic story about a relationship that doesn’t fit how most people think about love. It does it all with a balance of wry wit, curiosity, and honesty, echoing the character who serves as its big, beating heart.
A-
“Pillion” is in select theaters Friday. It opens nationwide on February 20.
