The shift in setting came down to budgetary concerns \u2013 \u2018You have to film\u00a0[close] to London to avoid having to put up all your cast and crew overnight, so Box Hill was too far,\u2019 Lighton tells Time Out \u2013 but\u00a0the change in season was pure wish-fulfilment for the\u00a0 filmmaker.\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m obsessed with Christmas films,\u2019 he says. \u2018Every film I\u2019ve made has had a Christmas element. I liked the idea of combining that sort of syrupy Christmas feeling with hardcore sex and seeing how an audience would combine those two things.\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"Pillion\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764290958_295_image.webp.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Picturehouse Entertainment
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Cue a towering Christmas tree being erected in the middle of Bromley\u2019s town centre during filming in August 2024. \u2018I\u2019d sit by the Christmas tree and hear all these locals walking past and saying how Christmas comes earlier each year,\u2019 laughs Lighton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s at this spot on a chilly Christmas Day evening that Colin meets Ray for what he assumes is a romantic date, but that ends up in a kinky hook-up down a backstreet behind Primark. \u2018We had modesty screens up and people doing crowd control to make sure nobody would walk past\u00a0\u2013 both for the sake of the actors and the public,\u2019 recalls Lighton. \u2018Fortunately, we found this alleyway by a Gail\u2019s Bakery that was pretty well protected.\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"Pillion\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764290960_449_image.webp.webp\")
\nPhotograph: Picturehouse EntertainmentHarry Melling in \u2018Pillion\u2019
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The scene had required some hasty replanning. \u2018At one point I had this idea that the hook-up would take place in the open against the Christmas tree, but I was quickly told that it wouldn\u2019t be possible,\u2019 says Lighton.<\/p>\n
Filming took place between 11pm and 5am on a Friday night, so the cast and crew were confronted with the odd drunk reveller emerging from nearby bars. \u2018Everyone was coming out of nightclubs off their tits and trying to join in,\u2019 says Lighton, \u2018and it\u2019s supposed to be a quiet scene\u2019.<\/p>\n
![\"Bromley\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764290962_839_image.webp.webp\")
\nPhotograph: ShutterstockMarket Square in Bromley
<\/p>\n
Another, later scene, in which Ray and Colin take a \u2018day off\u2019 from their dom\/sub dynamic, was filmed guerilla-style with hidden cameras here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lighton reveals there was almost an unplanned cameo at one point during the shoot.\u00a0\u2018There was a great guy called the Bromley Spider-Man who is a local fixture in Bromley,\u2019 he says. \u2018Occasionally, we would be shooting a long lens scene on the high street and a guy dressed as Spider-Man would drop into the back of the shot. I let the scene play out, but it didn\u2019t make the cut. That was good fun.\u2019<\/p>\n