Pillion18

Directed by Harry Lighton | UK | 2025 | 1h 47m | Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Melling, Lesley Sharp, Anthony Welsh, Jake Shears

Colin, a quiet and unassuming traffic warden who still lives with his parents in Bromley, finds his world turned upside down when he’s drawn into an unexpected BDSM relationship with a towering, leather-clad biker. As he navigates this intense new dynamic, Colin discovers both the pleasures and the pains of love, and begins to understand his own desires and boundaries. Harry Lighton’s feature debut is a bold, funny, and surprisingly tender sub-dom-rom-com starring Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård.

Pillion is showing on Saturday 16th May as part of a double-feature with Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy. Purchase tickets to both screenings (in a single transaction) and receive a 20% discount on the total cost.

Director's Cuts: Peter Strickland

Reviews

‘Pillion is a wonderful film that’s heavy with purpose… All that and it’s also very, very hot.’
★★★★★
Leonie Cooper, Time Out

‘It’s knotty stuff for a first film but Lighton finds a delicate balance between disturbing, funny, sweet and sad.’
★★★★
Ed Potton, The Times

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed Pillion between May 16, 2026 and May 16, 2026.

Join our mailing list and we'll make sure you always know what's on and when.

What else is on?

Today (Saturday 6th June)
Find out more

15:00

People's Emergency Briefing 12A
+ Discussion
50m (+ 30min Q&A)
Great Big Green Week 2026
The National Emergency Briefing in Westminster (November 2025) brings scientists together to present evidence on the climate and nature crisis. This film extends the findings nationwide, encouraging UK communities to gather, hear the evidence, and discuss solutions locally.

Book here

Find out more

17:00

Stalker PG
2h 42m | Russian w/ English subtitles
Director's Cuts: Lucile Hadžihalilović
In a mysterious wasteland known as the Zone, a guide leads a writer and scientist toward a room where their dreams will come true. A towering work of world cinema, Tarkovsky’s classic is revered for its philosophical depth, slow cinema style, and spiritual ambiguity.

Book here

Find out more

20:30

The Christophers 15
1h 40m
A reclusive London artist (Ian McKellen) becomes the target of a scheme by his estranged children, who recruit a young painter (Michaela Coel) to infiltrate his home and uncover hidden works. Steven Soderbergh’s darkly comic chamber piece explores deception, legacy and artistic value.

Book here


Tomorrow (Sunday 7th June)
Find out more

14:30

The Red Shoes PG
2h 15m
Director's Cuts: Lucile Hadžihalilović
The 75th anniversary of an undisputed masterpiece of British cinema. Powell and Pressburger’s visually ravishing fantasia about a young ballerina caught between her desire to dance and her yearning for love.

Book here

Find out more

17:30

The Christophers 15
1h 40m
A reclusive London artist (Ian McKellen) becomes the target of a scheme by his estranged children, who recruit a young painter (Michaela Coel) to infiltrate his home and uncover hidden works. Steven Soderbergh’s darkly comic chamber piece explores deception, legacy and artistic value.

Book here

Find out more

20:00

Orphan 15
2h 13m | Hungarian w/ English subtitles
In Budapest, 1957, a Jewish boy awaiting his father’s return from the camps is confronted by a mysterious man claiming to be his real parent. Oscar-winner László Nemes (Son of Saul) directs this powerful drama about identity, trauma and postwar Hungary.

Book here


See all upcoming films

Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!

Find out more