HairyHypnotistMar 18

My husband and I are going to see Pillion together tonight! Of course, we dressed up for the occasion. (You can’t see in the picture, but I’m also wearing my tall boots.)

This is the opening night of the Roze Filmdagen, the annual queer film festival in Amsterdam. https://rozefilmdagen.nl/en This is a *packed* screening, and a significant portion of the audience are in leather, as well!

#Pillion #film #leather #Amsterdam

Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
Overall, I really liked #Pillion, but there are definitely things that the movie could have done better. I’m really glad that a movie like this exists: it portrays some pretty extreme power exchange situations in a non-judgemental way that feels (fairly) realistic, showing the deep joy, connection, and community that it can bring. However, the relationship was also deeply unhealthy, and I fear that an audience without knowledge of BDSM might see the movie as approving of it.
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
Ray (the dominant) is a deeply flawed character, and it made me SO FRUSTRATED to see his total disinterest in any sort of meaningful communication. The movie is told from the perspective of Colin (the submissive); he, and by extension the audience, never learn any personal information about Ray whatsoever, not even what he does for work.
Show threadHairyHypnotist
At the start of the movie, Colin is openly gay but has no experience with relationships of any sort, let alone power exchange. Ray decides to take on Colin as his submissive, and Colin is swept up in the excitement of this attractive man paying any attention to him at all. The things that Ray does to Colin are frankly unethical, including sex that is very nearly rape. But inexperienced Colin accepts all of it, adapting to his new position without question.
Mar 19 at 10:33amWeb
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
Through this relationship, Colin grows as a person: learning more about himself, finding joy in his submission, discovering his needs and his limits, building the fortitude to enforce those limits. By contrast, Ray barely grows at all. Every time Ray tries something outside of his comfort zone, he quickly decides that he doesn’t like it and retreats, no matter who he hurts by doing so. His cowardice made me so fucking angry.
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
If I had to categorize Pillion, I’d say “coming of age” probably makes the most sense: Colin’s growth as a person is the main driver of the action. I would also say “rom-com” as a secondary category: there are many hilarious moments, often sparked by Colin’s bumbling British mannerisms colliding with Ray’s inflexible dictums. The movie was definitely a turbulent mix of emotions, although my anger at Ray made it harder for me to connect with the other emotions.
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
Towards the end of the movie, the relationship ends very abruptly — an interesting choice, and not one I expected. But I wish they had included a scene to show Ray’s state of mind afterwards, without Colin present; without that, there’s a certain lingering note of doubt that perhaps Colin was the cause of the relationship falling apart, and in this case that feels to me like victim-blaming.
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
But I really like that the movie continued, and showed Colin seeking out a new power exchange relationship — making his boundaries very clear in the process. Colin comes out stronger, despite Ray rather than because of him. And I appreciate that the film, while flawed, showed that power exchange relationships can be uplifting and meaningful; even when the relationships themselves are flawed, as well.
Show threadYour Winged Bull broMar 19
@HairyHypnotist We had nearly identical takes here. The more I thought about it, the more I believe that the source of most issues is that the adaptation - particularly the decision to move the film to modern times without accounting for how the community changed over these critical decades. More extensively here:
https://woof.group/@HisNameIsOx/115924208197097436
Your Winged Bull bro (@[email protected])

Content warning: Pillion (2025) Thoughts

woof.group
Show threadHairyHypnotistMar 19
@HisNameIsOx I actually didn't know that it was originally a book! The "change to modern times" aspect is one that I wasn't aware of; that definitely makes certain other parts of the movie make more sense in the context of "written for a different time". Thanks for the insight!
Show threadMidtown Masochist 🐻 (RB-050) 🐷Mar 19
@HairyHypnotist @HisNameIsOx The most striking aspect of the change in time period is the scenes at that camping trip. That kind of thing was enormously popular in the '70s and into the '80s. By the '90s those weekends had started dying out, but I did go to a few of those in my very late teens when I was in college, and later in my early twenties. They were every bit as magical as they were portrayed to be. That whole part of the film had me feeling deeply nostalgic. 😍
Show threadDavid the Leather BoyMar 19

@Richboy50 @HairyHypnotist @HisNameIsOx been a few months but Im pretty sure the camping trips not even in the book tbh.

its just a pretty standard thing that people do, and something you may do if you like biking and going places on a bike I think.

Show threadDavid the Leather BoyMar 19

@HairyHypnotist honestly I thought what we got said enough without having to say anything.

Ray doesn't like being vulnerable. he uses D/s as a way to avoid having to be with his partner on top of him already being quite a shitty dominant.

the moment that they kiss, that dislike of vulnerability is activated and for whatever reason its so bad, he just leaves.

he's clearly not an emotionally mature person so fucking off without a goodbye completely checked out to me.

Show threadDavid the Leather BoyMar 19

@HairyHypnotist and, well, we can talk about how the film doesn't quite reflect what the community is like these days, and in a general sense I'd agree, but, well..

...people like him exist on the scene to this day. we've all encountered them. some of us have even played with them.

there's a lot of emotional truth to film, I feel, which I think has a lot of value unto itself.