Skarsgård, Melling's 'Pillion' Earns Cannes Ovation

Pillion, Harry Lighton's feature debut adapted from Adam Mars-Jones’s novel Box Hill, stars Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling as a leather‑clad biker leader and a timid young man who enter a dom–sub relationship. A24 released the first trailer highlighting kinky set pieces—harness fittings, playful wrestling and a butt‑plug gag—alongside tender moments of self‑discovery and humor. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a strong audience response, reportedly including a seven‑minute standing ovation, and early reviews have praised Melling and Skarsgård’s chemistry and the film’s tonal balance between comedy, feeling and eroticism. Lighton and Skarsgård say they aimed for an authentic, nuanced portrayal of the leather‑biker subculture and worked with the cast to keep sex scenes narratively calibrated. A24 plans a festival run that will include screenings at BFI London and the New York Film Festival, followed by a theatrical rollout after the festival circuit.