[Trailer] Alexander Skarsgård Stars in A24’s Daring Gay Romance ‘Pillion’
A new trailer for Pillion, a British romantic comedy, has been released, giving fans a first look at Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in a daring and unique story. The film is the directorial debut of Harry Lighton 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 parents, including his terminally ill mother.
He meets Ray, a handsome and older biker gang leader played by Skarsgård. Ray introduces Colin to a B*** relationship, where Colin is expected to obey Ray’s every command and take part in the gang’s activities. The film mixes romance, comedy, and the challenges of their unusual relationship.
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
The cast also includes Douglas Hodge, Lesley Sharp, Paul Tallis, Anthony Welsh, and Jake Shears, who makes his screen acting debut. Shears prepared for the role by reading The Leatherman’s Handbook, and the film worked with members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club, who served as advisors and appear as themselves.
Pillion had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 18 in the Un Certain Regard section. The screening was met with a seven-minute standing ovation. The film won the Best Screenplay award and the Palm Dog prize, while also earning nominations for the Caméra d’Or and Queer Palm, according to Variety.
Filming took place in South East England during the summer of 2024, with locations including Lullingstone Castle and Sevenoaks in Kent. Director Lighton explained 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 further 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 h********… 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 is set to be released in theaters in the United Kingdom on November 28, through Picturehouse, with A24 handling U.S. distribution. Early reviews have been very positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 17 critics’ reviews are positive, and Metacritic gives the film a score of 85 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim.”
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