02-10-2026, 08:50 AM
WRITER-DIRECTOR HARRY LIGHTON AND ACTOR HARRY MELLING
WILL BE PRESENT FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE OF
A24’S PILLION AT THE CASTRO THEATRE
FEATURED IN THE HISTORIC THEATER’S GRAND RE-OPENING CELEBRATIONS
WHAT: The San Francisco Premiere of A24’s PILLION
WHO: Writer/Director Harry Lighton; Actor Harry Melling; Writer, Activist, Community
Organizer Race Bannon (Moderator)
WHERE: Castro Theatre
429 Castro Street
San Francisco
PILLION OPENS IN SAN FRANCISCO AT THE AMC KABUKI ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
ABOUT THE FILM
A24 and the Castro Theatre are thrilled to bring PILLION San Francisco and share for the first time at a venue so important to the LGBTQ+ and cultural communities. PILLION is tender, sexy, and funny while thoughtfully exploring the dom/sub dynamic we rarely see portrayed on the big screen. Hailed as “the most romantic film ever made” by ATTITUDE and “hugely entertaining” by ROLLING STONE UK, this BDSM romance premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and has earned numerous accolades, including a Best Adapted Screenplay award at the 2025 Gotham Awards and a Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for Best First-Time Theatrical Feature Film.
Harry Lighton is a British writer-director based in London. In 2017, he co-wrote and directed short film Wren Boys, which went on to be nominated for Best British Short at the 2018 BAFTAs. It was also nominated for a BIFA, won Best UK Short at the UK Film Festival, and had its US Premiere at Sundance. In recent years, Lighton has worked in various capacities with director Oliver Hermanus, on Living (director’s assistant), Sky/AMC seriesMary & George (directing 2nd unit) and an upcoming biopic of Alexander McQueen (writer).
Harry Melling played the co-lead in The Pale Blue Eye opposite Christian Bale for Netflix. His performance has received critical acclaim: “The Pale Blue Eye actor’s journey from Harry Potter to the most heart-breaking and disturbing roles imaginable” (Vanity Fair), “That spotlight, however, is where Harry Melling belongs. An excellent and exciting actor” (The Wrap), “Harry Melling has just given the performance of a lifetime” (In-verse). He can currently be seen as a lead in the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s hit novel The Mirror and the Light, opposite Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, and a lead role in Shoshana for Michael Winterbottom. He will soon be seen in a lead role in Athina Rachel Tsangari’s next feature Harvest, which premiered at Venice in 2024. He was recently seen in The Tragedy of Macbeth opposite Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, directed by Joel Coen, Please Baby Please opposite Andrea Riseborough, and the hit Netflix series The Queens Gambit directed by Scott Frank (the most successful scripted drama on Netflix).He starred in the hit action thriller The Old Guard opposite Charlize Theron and in Antonio Campsos’ thriller The Devil All The Time opposite Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland. Harry played a major role in the Coen Brother’s multi-award-winning feature The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and has an extensive theatre CV having played leads at the National, Old Vic and West End.
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