Pillion (2025)

Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025, Harry Lighton’s directorial debut Pillion has been widely praised for offering an authentic representation of queer leather, kink and BDSM lifestyles. This essay situates the film in the history of kink representation, crystalised in the visual imagery of the ‘kinky gay biker’, on screen. It assesses how the film compares to previous kink representations and where its radical stance lies. It also critically assesses the issues such as limit, boundary and consent that are central to kink cultures are represented in the film. The essay argues that Pillion marks an important step forward for kink representation on screen because of its active involvement with the kink people and communities. The film also represents a significant mode of contemporary British queer cinema that straddles the radical and the mainstream in terms of aesthetics and politics, speaking to both queer and heterosexual audiences.