Alexander Skarsgård-Harry Melling BDSM Romance Pic ‘Pillion' Spurs Eight-Minute Ovation At Cannes Premiere
The kinky pic from British first-time feature writer-director Harry Lighton follows the burgeoning odd-couple pairing of the handsome and charismatic Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) and introverted but curious Colin (Harry Melling). The biker gang leader introduces Colin to his community and takes him on as his sexual submissive.
More from Deadline
Cannes Film Festival 2025 In Photos: Richard Linklater, Zoey Deutch, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, 'New Wave' & 'Die, My Love' Premieres
'Pillion' Review: Alexander Skarsgård Is Dom For The Holidays & Harry Melling Is Hopelessly Devoted In Steamy BDSM Romance — Cannes Film Festival
MK2 Seals Worldwide Deal For Films Of Nouvelle Vague Influencer & Cinema Vérité Pioneer Jean Rouch - Cannes Market
RELATED: Standing Ovations At Cannes: How We Clock Those Claps, Which Movie Holds The Record and Why The Industry Loves To Hate The Ritual
In his Deadline review, Glenn Garner wrote: 'Beneath the unabashed sexual content, Lighton's debut is all romance, kicking off with a French rendition of 'I Will Follow Him,' foreshadowing the hopeless devotion Colin develops for Ray in their dom/sub relationship. … Skarsgård understood the assignment, slipping seamlessly into his role as the sexually dominant yet elusive Ray, who's fearless in communicating his every desire, but emotionally closed off to any real intimacy as the leader of a gay biker gang.'
The screenplay was developed with BBC Film and is based on Adam Mars-Jones' Box Hill, which was the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Nobel Prize winner. A24 picked up U.S. distribution rights to Pillion in October.
It is an Element Pictures production financed by BBC Film, BFI — which awarded it National Lottery funding — in association with Fremantle, Picturehouse Entertainment and September Film; the latter two will handle distribution in the UK and Benelux, respectively. Memento will bring it to France cinemas.
RELATED: Full List Of Cannes Palme d'Or Winners Through The Years: Photo Gallery
Best of Deadline
Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds
'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
6 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Woody Allen, Twiggy 1967 Philosopher Interview Explained
A 58-year-old interview is going viral after people were left impressed by the expert way that British supermodel Twiggy reacted to director Woody Allen's attempt to embarrass her. Twiggy, who would have been just 17 years old at the time, is being lauded for how she handled the potentially awkward situation, with then-31-year-old Woody seemingly belittling her intelligence during the uncomfortable conversation. Woody kicked off the 1967 interview by asking Twiggy her thoughts on 'serious matters,' and when she asks what he means by that, he replies: 'I don't know, who's your favorite philosopher?' Twiggy can't hide her shock at the question, and she laughs awkwardly before answering: 'I haven't got one, I have no idea.' She then curiously asks: 'Who's yours?' 'Oh, I like them all,' Woody stutters in response, but Twiggy refuses to let him get away that easily. 'Who?' she asks again, and Woody sheepishly replies: 'All your basic philosophers.''Who?' Twiggy repeats, Woody once again stumbles over his words as he says: 'Just all of them.' 'I don't know their names though,' Twiggy confesses, with a serious look on her face. 'What are their names?' Twiggy previously revealed that this interview took place during her first-ever trip to New York, and that she wanted to run off and 'burst into tears' when Woody first asked the question. "There was one person who wasn't so nice — a young comic called Woody Allen, and he was to interview me for a documentary," she told Glamour in 2009. "His first question was: 'Who's your favorite philosopher?' My heart sank. I wanted to run off and burst into tears. I didn't know any philosophers. And he probably knew I didn't.''When I said so, he replied: 'Oh, come on, everyone has a favorite philosopher.' It was such a cruel thing to do to a young girl," she also revealed that Woody left the set and refused to continue with the interview after she turned the tables on him. "I was desperate and trying not to cry, but I turned the tables on him and asked him to come up with some names — but he couldn't think of any either!' Twiggy recalled. 'Then he said to me: 'I suppose you've read Dickens,' thinking I hadn't. So I said: 'Yeah, I read him at school.' In the end, he said: 'Oh, I can't interview her,' and left the stage." And in a 2025 interview with the Guardian, Twiggy said: 'He was trying to make me look stupid. My heart sank. I remember looking at him, pleading with my eyes for him to stop.' 'If I was the age he was there, in my 30s, I would never have behaved like that towards someone who was only 17,' she added. The interview clip resurfaced on X on Sunday and quickly went viral, racking up over four million views and thousands of likes and retweets as other users praised Twiggy's reaction. One quote-tweet that has been liked more than 92,000 times reads: 'She was 17, a perfectly acceptable age to not know any philosophers but a very impressive age to embarrass a 31 year old with his own bullshit.''I love how the look in her eye goes from bashful to, 'oh, I'm going for the kill now. Game on,'' somebody else noted.'The funniest part about this is you'd think the obvious thing to do if you plan to ask a question to humiliate someone is to know the answer yourself, but the thought never even crossed his mind,' another wrote. And one more concluded: ''What are your thoughts on serious matters?' is the most fake intellectual question of all time like… which one???'
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: So long, Lolla kids. Hope you had fun.
After a slow start, we've come to regard Lollapalooza with affection. The kids who flock to Chicago (more than 100,000 per day this year, reportedly) are a fun crew, their destination instantly recognizable from their sparkly, skimpy attire wherever we encountered them in the city this weekend (usually peering into their phones, trying to find their Ubers). And, of course, they spend a lot of money around town, especially in and around Chicago's Loop, which needs their support. We'd expect the economic impact of the festival this year to be somewhere around $500 million, if not more. Over the years, Lollapalooza has turned into a good Chicago citizen and, with apologies to Coachella, which has a broader cultural mandate, has become North America's equivalent of Glastonbury, the massive outdoor British festival, which makes news in the entertainment business every year, often by slating such things as final farewells from the likes of Elton John and Rod Stewart, the pairings of iconic artists and young artists showing respect for previous generations. We saw some of that last phenomenon this year at Lolla, when young, female headliners such as Gracie Abrams brought out Robyn, Olivia Rodrigo introduced Weezer and Sabrina Carpenter surprised attendees with Earth, Wind & Fire, a retro band that also happens to be playing Ravinia on Thursday night. We hope that, for all our mutual benefits, Lolla keeps its focus on those deft kinds of surprises. The Chicago Police Department tells us that this year's festival went off without any significant trouble, beyond what you might reasonably expect when that many humans gather in one place. There were only 12 total arrests over the four nights, which is minimal; zero tickets issued (not a typo) and 42 ambulance reports, which is way down from previous years (in 2021, for example, there were 102 transports). The cooler weather likely helped, but this is all good news. It could well be that the disruptions caused to downtown residents by the now-departed NASCAR, which actually involved city streets and resulted in lengthy closures, has made us better appreciate Lollapalooza, which mostly confines itself to established festival grounds. We also always appreciate the effort to bring in local food operations, such as Fatso's Last Stand and the family-owned Bacci Pizzeria. And we heard from out-of-towners who were impressed with this year's drone show — especially how well it framed the real Willis Tower, if you had the right angle. Better yet, the aftershows at venues all over town were hopping this past weekend, from the Salt Shed to Radius and from Schubas Tavern to Lincoln Hall. Past concerns about the big event locking up acts with exclusive deals in protected territory haven't entirely gone away, but with this many people at so successful a festival, it's now clear that the smaller venues in Chicago generally have decided it's better to join the four-night party than stand against it. The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events could do more to use the Lolla base for the benefit of the whole city and get attendees to stay for a week or more. Still, much as we often detail Chicago's problems in this space, we also know that its gorgeous skyline can seduce a young visitor like nowhere else in the Midwest. Huge benefits accrue, not just in terms of tourism but when it comes to attracting new residents, when young pop stars with tens of millions of followers post love letters to our town, as when Carpenter posted 'thank you, Chicago. Wow.' Carpenter also made specific reference to Chicago in her set, mimicking a Chicago news station. Rodrigo found her way to Wrigley Field this weekend and we heard tell of a certain young Chicago Cubs star present at Lollapalooza, too. Simply put, this was a weekend for the spotlight to find a way through the haze and shine on the beauty, action and artistry of a Chicago summer. Glastonbury is taking the year off in 2026 to allow the natural land to recover. Thanks to our urban setting and the hard work of those who tend to its grounds, Lollapalooza does not have that problem. It'll be back — and we're happy about that.
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Queen Camilla is ready for more ‘Slow Horses.' And Gary Oldman is happy to oblige
Sir Gary Oldman — he received a British knighthood in King Charles' June birthday honors list — appears on Zoom at his home in Palm Springs in front of a display of his own black-and-white photographs. 'I do all sorts of photography, but I also do 19th century wet plate,' he says. 'I just like the process. I don't do digital, I do film. I like the developing.' Oldman's been 'doing film' of the silver-screen sort since the 1980s, but the phenomenal global success of London-based spy thriller 'Slow Horses,' which returns for its fifth season on Apple TV+ next month, has changed everything for the Oscar winner (2017's 'Darkest Hour'). Emmy-nominated as lead actor in a drama series for the second consecutive year for his turn as slovenly Jackson Lamb, leader of an out-of-favor group of spies nicknamed the Slow Horses, Oldman could not be more thrilled. In fact, it's virtually impossible to tell whether he's more psyched about 'Slow Horses' or being knighted. Either way, he's full of the joys of his very hot summer. 'Big sky, big mountain and 102 here at the moment,' he beams. He finds L.A. too chilly now. 'I'm thrilled with it,' he grins of his knighthood, 'and no, I wasn't angling for it. I mean, I've done some stuff for charity over the years, and I would like to think I'm a good export, an ambassador of Britain. I have a green card, but I don't have American citizenship. I'm still a British subject.' He's thrilled too about his Emmy nomination, but less enamored of relentless questions about 'how you pull the rabbit out of the hat.' 'Can't it just be a bloody mystery? Why do we have to sort of take it all apart?' he asks. 'I think half of the time I make it up. I don't know, I just do. It's like you have a facility for something. It's like asking a tennis player, 'How do you return the ball?' 'I've just been able to do it since I was 12.' I don't look up videos of Peter O'Toole talking about acting.' Oldman notes he moved to Hollywood 'completely by accident' because he 'wanted to go to the place where they were making films so I could practice.' Film, he did, ad infinitum, particularly enjoying the spy genre in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' which garnered him his first Oscar nomination as lead actor in 2012, long before Jackson Lamb appeared on his radar. It appears 'Slow Horses' might satisfy part of his creative itch for some years to come. Season 6 is already in the can, and Season 7 is due to start filming this fall. 'It is something I could just do. Can I see an end? I don't know,' he says. 'I love the people and the show and the character. But it's nothing to do with that. Apple write the checks and have been generous in their check-writing. I mean, how do you feel? Do you think people would eventually just get fed up with it?' I demur, along with members of the British royal family apparently. 'The Queen [Camilla] said to me, 'Are there any more?' I'm led to believe that they like 'Slow Horses.' And in Palm Springs of all places, I'll go to the hardware store or the supermarket and people will come up to me and say, 'When's 'Slow Horses' coming back?'' His facility for the simple stuff does, however, fail him occasionally. 'Yes, suddenly you can't walk in a room. Or get out of a car. I've walked into a room my entire life. I've got out of so many cars I couldn't count and now, yeah, even just raising a cup. It's the funniest thing, it will trip you up.' To date, he has not forgotten how to eat, which is fortunate given Lamb's gargantuan appetite and Oldman's impatience with eating scenes where actors push their food around. 'I remember the noodles scene in Season 2, and you know Lamb is an eater; I'm always eating in the show, and you can't fake it. So one morning I ate 17 or 18 bowls of noodles and then it was, 'OK, we're gonna break for lunch, can I get you anything?'' Oldman's most recent 'charity work' was his pro bono four-week run this spring of Samuel Beckett's one-man play 'Krapp's Last Tape' at York Theatre Royal, scene of his professional stage debut in 1979 and his first U.K. stage appearance in 37 years. 'I kind of got kidnapped by film and with all the other life experiences — kids, divorce, marriage, divorce, sobriety,' he says. 'You turn around and think, 'When did I last do a play?' And I thought, 'I'd really like to do it, let me put my toe back in the water.'' He wondered, 'Well, will anyone come? Is anyone interested? I was worried whether we'd fill 700 or 800 seats, and then the day they announced the tickets, their computer crashed.' There's that huge smile again, one suggesting he still can't quite believe it. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't waste time worrying too much about his place in the Hollywood pantheon. 'Maybe there are people somewhere in an executive office sitting around saying, 'What about Gary Oldman for this role?' and 'No, he's unavailable because he's doing the show.' But I like what 'Slow Horses' has afforded me over the last few years. I get some downtime, I got to do theater, I've got my photography and other things, rather than thinking about this or that film and 'they want you but they don't know if they can go this year.' 'I feel so privileged, so bloody lucky that at 67 years old, I'm in a show of this caliber, that people have really actually embraced. I'm so very, very blessed, and it's also nice to know that you're going to be working. Yeah, it's nice to be in regular employment.'
