A former Harry Potter actor surprised fans by starring in an X-rated film that received an enthusiastic eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday (May 18).
The film, Pillion, stars Harry Melling—who famously played Harry’s Muggle cousin Dudley Dursley in the Wizarding World franchise— alongside Alexander Skarsgård, known for The Northman and Succession.
As per the film’s synopsis, Harry portrays Colin, a shy parking attendant who meets Ray (Alexander), “a confident bike leader who initiates him into a submissive relationship, challenging Colin’s mundane existence and prompting personal growth through their unconventional dynamic.”
Harry Potter actor Harry Melling co-stars with Alexander Skarsgård in Pillion
Image credits: Marc Piasecki/FilmMagic
“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 the climax of the Harry Lighton-directed film, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section, the theater erupted into a lengthy standing ovation. Alexander, thrilled by the positive response, was seen planting a kiss on Pedro Pascal’s cheek.
Image credits: Hulu
The movie, which features several explicit intimate scenes, received positive reviews from critics.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “Both Melling and Skarsgård show an intimate understanding of how the power dynamic between their characters works, but what gives Pillion its kick is the friction sparked when Colin starts wanting more.”
Indie Wire said the biker romance film “outdoes Babygirl in its graphic and psychologically complex portrayal of an aloof leather-clad biker and his devoted submissive.”
Meanwhile, Deadline wrote that “Skarsgård understood the assignment, slipping seamlessly into his role as the s*xually 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 X-rated film premiered over the weekend at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation
Image credits: IMDB
PILLION just premiered to a rapturous reception, the clapping is still going onnnn 🙌 #Cannes pic.twitter.com/jO0X1dZtWB
— Ben Rolph @ Cannes 2025 (@TheDCTVshow) May 18, 2025
The Guardian gave the film ⅘ stars, praising it as a “real love story” that is “basically what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been.”
Pillion is based on Adam Mars-Jones’ novel Box Hill, which was the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Nobel Prize winner.
It was produced by Element Pictures, the Oscar-winning company behind Yorgos Lanthimos’ films The Favourite, Poor Things, and Kinds of Kindness.
Harry Melling played Harry Potter’s cousin, Dudley Dursley, in the Wizarding World franchise
Image credits: Hulu
The Sunday screening marked the first Cannes film premiere for the Harry Potter actor. Alexander, his co-star, was last at Cannes with the 2011 movie Melancholia.
Alexander said he’s more than comfortable filming intimate scenes in his birthday suit, telling uInterview: “I’m Scandinavian, godda***it! We love to be n*ked.”
For the explicit scenes, the actors worked with intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt on set.
In Pillion, he stars as a timid parking attendant who begins a submissive relationship with Ray (Alexander), a confident biker
Image credits: Brian_Tallerico
Alexander Skarsgård tout en cuir pour la première de #Pillion d’Harry Lighton.🔥 #Cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/xWqawk6JTU
— Thomas Desroches (@strayydog) May 18, 2025
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Harry reflected on filming the X-rated sequences and praised his co-star, saying, “Alex is just the most generous, dreamy scene partner, so what could have been quite a daunting experience couldn’t have been more different, really.”
He added: “When you sort out the choreography of it, which is often the most difficult part—you sort out what everyone’s doing, where their hands are going—and then once action is called, you’re in the world of Colin and Ray.”
Harry said filming the explicit scenes would have been “very daunting” if not for his co-star’s help
Image credits: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
Really rapturous reception for the queer, hilarious and heartfelt Plllion. Extended standing ovation here for Alex Skarsgaard and debut director Harry Lighton. pic.twitter.com/BieaP71w2d
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) May 18, 2025
Alexander, who had previously filmed gay love scenes for True Blood, said Harry was “very brave in just throwing himself out there.”
The Swedish actor shared: “The way it’s set up in the script, the audience knows as little about Ray as Colin does, and we kind of maintain that kind of level of mystery around the character.
“In terms of the specifics of the sub-dom relationship, he’s very clear and very upfront with Colin about what he wants, and that also creates an interesting trajectory for their relationship as the story and the love relationship evolve.”
The Guardian gave the film 4/5 stars, saying it’s “what Fifty Shades of Grey should have been”
Image credits: Samir Hussein/WireImage
alexander skarsgård on his upcoming film ‘pillion’
“very graphic kinky gay biker film” pic.twitter.com/WouccqbcCu
— ben dpdl 🪵🚆is in the pitt (@chasingbodies) May 16, 2025
Alexander told PrideSource that homosexuality has always been “the most natural thing” to him because his uncle and godfather is gay. Growing up, he felt “it was just as natural as being straight.”
“He was, by far, out of my father’s four siblings, the most fashionable and the most trendy, cool guy. So, when I was a kid, he was the one I looked up to.”
Pedro Pascal was among the stars who attended the premiere in Cannes
Image credits: FilmLandEmpire
Image credits: sydglenx
The 48-year-old star shared that he was surprised when he started high school and saw his peers mocking gay men.
“When I became a teenager and the kids made fun of other teenagers who were gay, I never really understood that.
“It just baffled me because my idol, my godfather, was gay, and he was the coolest guy I knew. I just couldn’t understand how that could be an insult.”
“That standing ovation shows how powerful and important films like Pillion are,” one fan commented