Is Hollywood officially in its BDSM era?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]
Words by Charley Ross<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215701348-scaled.jpg” alt=”Harry Mellin for Pillion” title_text=”%22Pillion%22 Photocall – The 78th Annual Cannes Film Festival” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] Harry Melling, known for his portrayal of Harry Potter character Dudley Dursley, has taken something of a career turn \u2013 starring in queer, BDSM-inspired Cannes Film Festival movie Pillion alongside Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd.<\/p>\n The actor, who also starred alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Harry Beltik in Netflix\u2019s The Queen\u2019s Gambit, will play Colin, a sexually submissive parking attendant, while Skarsg\u00e5rd will portray a charismatic biker who introduces him to his community of queer bikers, as well as his sexual adventures. He becomes a \u201cpillion\u201d, the name given for a passenger on a motorcycle, but arguably becomes a passenger in more ways than one \u2013 Colin becomes the sub, while Ray is the Dom.<\/p>\n Pillion\u2019s film\u2019s plot synopsis reads as follows: \u201cColin, a timid man, meets Ray, a confident biker gang leader, who initiates him into a submissive relationship, challenging Colin’s mundane existence and prompting personal growth through their unconventional dynamic.\u201d It is based on the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars Jones.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215688284.jpg” alt=”Harry Mellin” title_text=”%22Pillion%22 Photocall – The 78th Annual Cannes Film Festival” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] The positive reviews from Cannes \u2013 as well as its eight-minute standing ovation \u2013 hopefully suggests that the film will sensitively explore male power dynamics when it comes to sexuality and specifically queer relationships. We will see Melling\u2019s character tire of his submissive role in his dynamic with Ray and question what this submissiveness brings to his life.<\/p>\n Skarsg\u00e5rd\u2019s character Ray has been described by Deadline as \u201cfearless in communicating his every desire, but emotionally closed off to any real intimacy as the leader of a gay biker gang\u201d. So it\u2019s safe to say his character will depict and provide an opportunity to explore the nuances of toxic masculinity and the different ways that it can manifest. Especially as director Harry Lighton has described Melling\u2019s energy on screen as \u201cnot remotely alpha\u201d, but fizzing with charisma all the same. With a bit of luck, Pillion will explore ways in which men (whatever their sexuality) can be strong and masculine without channelling toxic alpha male energy.<\/p>\n It also looks to challenge certain stereotypes that surround BDSM sex and the community that has formed around it, as well as creating a “sweet” dynamic between the two romantic leads. “There\u2019s a knee-jerk reaction when you hear about BDSM \u2014 that it\u2019s going to be either very ironic or it\u2019s going to be very severe \u2014 and I knew that I didn\u2019t want to lose the fun of it,” Lighton told Vanity Fair.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}”] “But I also didn\u2019t want to create a distance between the audience and Colin and Ray through irony. That\u2019s probably where the sweetness comes through.” He added that authenticity, when it came to sex in general and the world of BDSM, was really important when making Pillion.<\/p>\n “What was key was that whichever way we achieved it, it didn\u2019t feel like the symbol of sub-Dom sex\u2014that it felt like there was a reality to it. And that meant embracing moments of clumsiness or discomfort as well as the highs of the sex. “I wanted anyone who watches it from the kink community, or whatever community, to feel like what they\u2019re watching is accurate.”<\/p>\n Melling has praised Skarsg\u00e5rd for being \u201cthe most generous, dreamy scene partner\u201d when it came to filming their kinky sex scenes. \u201cWhat could have been quite a daunting experience couldn\u2019t have been more different, really,\u201d he said.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2215675418.jpg” alt=”Alexander Skarsgard” title_text=”%22Pillion%22 Photocall – The 78th Annual Cannes Film Festival” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u201cWhen you sort out the choreography of it, which is often the most difficult part \u2013 you sort out what everyone\u2019s doing, where their hands are going \u2013 and then once action is called, you\u2019re in the world of Colin and Ray.\u201d<\/p>\n Skarsg\u00e5rd described Melling as \u201cjust the sweetest, nicest, loveliest human being\u201d. \u201cI felt comfortable going as far as we needed to go in these situations with him,” he said of filming their sex scenes. \u201cThere were these tender, beautiful moments that just happened organically, and some moments that were weird and some moments that were funny. But [Harry] was incredibly game, very brave in just throwing himself out there.\u201d<\/p>\n An intimacy co-ordinator was consulted on set throughout \u2013 Skarsg\u00e5rd has opened up about having these professionals, as well as experienced members of the kink community, involved in the making of the film. “There are orgy scenes in the film, and with a combination of actors and non-actors with different levels of experience in that field, it was great to have Robbie [the intimacy co-ordinator] there to kind of help and guide the team,” he said.<\/p>\n Pillion\u2019s sex scenes \u2013 which include boot licking, alleyway blow jobs and orgies \u2013 are an exciting draw, but the film is also set to depict love, affection and comedy. We can\u2019t wait to see more.<\/p>\n “I hope they\u2019re moved by it,” Lighton says. “Whether it makes people laugh or cry, horny or angry, I don\u2019t mind. I just hope they feel something other than boredom. If it causes them to question some of their preconceptions that\u2019s also good.”<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hollywood is in its BDSM era…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":9906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9904"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9913,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9904\/revisions\/9913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘There’s a knee-jerk reaction when you hear about BDSM.’<\/span><\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]