First Look at Pillion: A Queer Biker Romance Set to Premiere at Cannes 2025
We’ve officially got our first taste of Pillion, and honestly? We’re already obsessed. The highly anticipated new film from director Harry Lighton—starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling—has just dropped its first look image, and it comes hand-in-hand with some major news: Pillion has been selected for this year’s Un Certain Regard section at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, taking place from May 13 to 23, 2025.
Produced by Dublin-based powerhouse Element Pictures (The Favourite, Poor Things), Pillion is already generating major buzz—and for good reason. Though we’ve only got a single still to feast our eyes on for now (which you can check out above), it’s more than enough to get our engines revving. Described as a “fun and filthy romance with heart,” the film promises a bold, unapologetic deep dive into queer desire, kink, and identity.
Based on Adam Mars-Jones’ 2020 novel Box Hill, Pillion introduces us to Colin (Melling), a timid, soft-spoken man sleepwalking through suburban life. Everything changes when he crosses paths with Ray (Skarsgård), the magnetic and domineering leader of a motorbike club. Ray quickly takes Colin under his leather-clad wing—as his submissive—and what unfolds is a wild ride through a queer biker subculture that’s as intoxicating as it is intense.
According to the official synopsis, Pillion explores Colin’s journey as he’s swept away from the mundane into a world of leather, rules, and liberation—but also control. As Colin navigates Ray’s intricate world of 24/7 submission, he’s forced to question whether he’s found freedom, or simply traded one form of suffocation for another.
Needless to say, this is the kind of boundary-pushing queer storytelling we live for. A kinky romance with real emotional stakes? Sign us up.
Pillion is written and directed by Harry Lighton and produced by Element Pictures. The film is financed by BBC Film and the BFI, with US distribution by A24, and international sales handled by Cornerstone Films.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one as Cannes draws near. Until then, we’ll just be staring at this still and counting down the days.
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Featured Image: Image Courtesy of Element Pictures.
