Alexander Skarsgard as Ray and Harry Melling as Colin star in the BDSM romance Pillion.
TERRY VANDIVORT | Contributing Writer
TV75218@aol.com
The press release for Pillion calls it a comedy/drama/BDSM romance. This seems ripe for badness. Remarkably, though, these artists pull this feat off, and it’s enthralling from start to finish.
The movie is not meant to shock or create controversy. It is meant to tell, without judgment, a life. A group of guys bound by fraternity, kink and affection. Life. These are the rewards of this cinematic erotica.
On Christmas Eve, our hero Colin, played by Harry Melling of Harry Potter fame, takes a break from his barbershop quartet and goes to the bar. Alexander Skarsgard as Ray (so hot I’m still under doctor’s orders) moves closer to the bar, and a chance encounter (or is it?) occurs. Ray, with one nuclear look, has Colin under his spell.
Leaving the pub, Ray passes a note to Colin with a phone number and a time and place where they shall meet on Christmas Night. No questions asked. The power dynamic set.
The next night, we see Colin following Ray down a street and turning into an alley. Ray removes his jacket and is left standing in a skintight body suit, scooped down to his navel.
The male sexuality is magnetic. Skarsgard’s abs should get next year’s Oscar for “Best Visual Effects.”
Ray forces Colin to his knees, then slowly unzips the body suit and pulls out a massive prosthetic penis, forcing Colin to go down on him, choking and gagging. Soon Colin is forced to the ground to lick Ray’s boots.
Let’s say it’s a rather awkward and clumsy first encounter. But Colin, now captivated, says, “I guess it takes a bit of practice. Maybe I could practice with you.” He hurriedly adds a polite thank you as Ray walks away.
The liaison is over. Merry Christmas.
But Colin cannot stay away from this beast, so he texts him his address to have another go. While awaiting his arrival, Colin’s parents begin quizzing their son about the man. They are totally supportive of him finding a boyfriend, and their reparteé and gossipy interest is both sweet and invasively funny.
But there’s something at stake here, because Mom is dying of cancer, and that fuels her desperate love for Colin’s happiness. When Ray arrives, the two zip away on the bike, Colin’s hands at last holding onto this man who dominates his hopes.
Then begins a series of scenes that initiates our young hero into the tests that will enforce submission. Their first evening together, Ray quickly shows him the kitchen, tells him to fix pasta for dinner, easy on the cheese, and disappears into the living room to watch TV. Colin takes dinner to Ray, who is sitting on the couch. As Colin moves to sit next to him, Ray calls the dog to the couch with him, and Colin, crestfallen, stands obediently behind.
Bedtime also has rules. Colin is to sleep on a rug on the floor — unless he snores. If he snores, he will sleep in the hall. Welcome to submission.
When Colin wakes in the morning, Ray is outside, washing his bike with the care and attention he has denied Colin. Then comes more training — a painful, intense wrestling match that evolves into lube and painful, intense sex.
Then Colin gets a shopping list: “Get a butt plug. You’re tight.” And don’t be back before six.
By the next scene, Ray has given Colin a leather makeover, and they move confidently through Ray’s crew, as the guys in the group hug Colin, rub his head and celebrate his pledging the fraternity. Ray says Colin has an aptitude for devotion. True — in more than one way.
My favorite scene is when the gang goes to a meadow by a river to have an outdoor dungeon picnic. To see all those butts — big and small, some in assless jumpsuits — running like little boys to jump in the river is such fun. They play card games, sex games, subs bent over tables like the serving line in Luby’s, waiting for whatever.
In a conversation another sub, Kevin — played by queer icon Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters — remarks on what a hot couple Colin and Ray are and asks if they kiss. Colin immediately says no, to which Kevin speaks the heart of the film: “I couldn’t put up with no kissing. It’d drive me nuts.”
Colin answers, “Not me.” But his eyes tell another story.
Finally, Ray comes to meet the parents, and it’s tense, to say the least. Initially it’s awkwardly pleasant, but Mom starts digging about who Ray is and what he does. She doesn’t like the way he speaks to her son. Ray says her opinion doesn’t matter, and Mom goes on a tirade about his secrecy, killing the dinner.
Cut to Mom’s funeral. Afterwards, Colin goes to be with Ray, who’s uncommonly caring. He brings him into bed, embracing him as they sleep. Feels like romance. In the morning Ray fixes breakfast, saying they’re taking the day off, something he has refused Colin previously. But Colin has been living with so much pressure, he grabs the metal handles of a boiling pot, holding them until he screams in agony and falls to the floor. Ray runs in and, again, is deeply attentive to Colin.
The story turns again.
On their day off, they walk the town — a normal day having lunch and going to a movie. Sound familiar, guys? In the dark, the two link fingers and Colin moves their hands to his own crotch, both men rubbing it. But, ironically, it’s barely sexual. Instead, it’s profound connection.
This scene propels the two guys into a run through the park, letting them be unguarded, silly, and free. Exhausted, they fall to the grass, fall into each other’s eyes and finally kiss deeply. Really deeply. And in Ray’s eyes, he shows us his hidden pain. After that ….
I’m sure we all often see movies that are really involving but collapse at the end. This ends exactly as it should. Anything else would be lying. Colin gets exactly what he needs.