Both Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgård deserve real praise for throwing themselves into a film as bold and unflinching as Pillion. It’s easily one of the most sexually explicit titles I saw at Cannes this year—so much so that several people walked out of my screening. Director Harry Lighton, making his feature debut, approaches this queer BDSM relationship with honesty, curiosity, and a refusal to sanitize. There’s no soft lighting or euphemism here—just a clear-eyed attempt to explore what might…

Cannes #01

The idea for Sound of Falling began with a photograph—three women from the 1920s, their lives left to the imagination. That image stayed with director Mascha Schilinski and eventually became the seed for her second feature. Over the course of nearly three years, she and co-writer Louise Peter developed a story that spans a century, following four girls who lived on the same German farm during different eras. Their lives are gently woven together in a structure that…