Alexander Skarsgård has teased a “raunchier” cut of the upcoming gay BDSM film Pillion.
On 18 May, the highly anticipated drama made its world premiere during the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Harry Lighton (Wren Boys), the film chronicles the romance between Colin (Harry Melling), a “weedy wallflower letting life pass him by” who becomes the submissive of Ray (Skarsgård), “the impossibly handsome leader of a motorbike club”.
The official synopsis for Pillion is as follows: “Ray uproots Colin from his dreary suburban life, introducing him to a community of kinky, queer bikers and taking all sorts of virginities along the way.
“But as Colin steps deeper into Ray’s world of rules and mysteries, he begins to question whether the life of a 24/7 submissive is for him. Has he found his calling, or simply swapped one form of suffocation for another?”
Following its premiere, the film received a seven-minute standing ovation and generally positive reviews from critics, who lauded the performances of Skarsgård and Melling, Lighton’s direction and its unexpectedly tender love story.
Pillion‘s abundance of intense and explicit sex scenes also garnered attention, with one reviewer stating that the film is “what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been.”
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In a recent interview with Variety, Lighton revealed that the forthcoming project had more NSFW content prior to its premiere. However, he removed several scenes to not “push the audience into feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image.”
“So, for example, there was one close-up of a dick, a hard dick… like down the barrel of the lens. And after watching the film on that ‘f**k-off’ screen, I thought, ‘Yeah, cutting it was probably the right decision!'” Lighton explained.
Skarsgård confirmed Lighton’s statement, adding: “There’s definitely a raunchier version of this movie… what you’ve seen is the family-friendly version… there’s also the Alexander Skarsgård cut.”
From Element Pictures, Pillion is based on the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones. It also stars Douglas Hodge as Pete, Lesley Sharp as Peggy, Anthony Welsh as Darren and Scissor Sisters star Jake Shears as Kevin, another sub.
In October, A24 acquired US distribution rights to the film. A worldwide release date is yet to be announced.
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