{"id":177747,"date":"2026-02-14T08:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177747\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T08:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T08:26:07","slug":"castro-theatre-hosts-screening-of-pillion-golden-gate-xpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/177747\/","title":{"rendered":"Castro Theatre hosts screening of \u2018Pillion\u2019 \u2013 Golden Gate Xpress"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of the Castro Theatre\u2019s first events since its Feb. 6 reopening, the newly-rennovated theater hosted director Harry Lighton and co-star Harry Melling for a sold-out<\/a> screening of the A24\u2019s \u201cPillion\u201d on Thursday night ahead of its slated nationwide release the following day.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of San Francisco moviegoers \u2014 many decked out head-to-toe in leather and chains, symbolic of the city\u2019s BDSM scene<\/a> \u2014 lined up around the block for a first look at the acclaimed romantic comedy. The film follows the sadomasochist relationship between Ray, a dominant motorcyclist (Alexander Skarsgard), and Colin, a shy, submissive gay man living in London (Harry Melling).<\/p>\n

Lighton debuted \u201cPillion,\u201d his first feature-length screenplay,\u00a0 at the 2025 Cannes International Film Festival last May, where he took home Best Screenplay as an official Un Certain Regard<\/a> selection.<\/p>\n

\"\"Harry Melling and Harry Lighton being interviewed at the screening of A24\u2019s \u201cPillion\u201d at the Castro Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Lindsey Hoang<\/a> \/ Golden Gate Xpress)<\/p>\n

The Castro Theatre screening concludes a successful four-screen run in New York and Los Angeles that grossed nearly $250,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had dreams about the Castro and having a film here,\u201d Lighton said. \u201cIt\u2019s a proper \u2018pinch me\u2019 moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The screening of \u201cPillion\u201d marks the historic theater\u2019s first film screening since a \u201cVictor, Victoria\u201d sing-along<\/a> in Feb. 2024. Doors were shuttered for a planned two-year restoration project spearheaded by Bay Area-based live entertainment company Another Planet Entertainment upon partnering<\/a> with the venue\u2019s owners, Bay Properties Inc., in early 2022.<\/p>\n

Following opening remarks from Melling, Lighton and Castro Theatre house manager Raul Rangel, Skarsg\u00e5rd appeared via video to introduce the film. Rangel praised the film as a representation of the progression in positive on-screen LGBTQ+ representation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see this theater evolve, and watch the movies evolve with it has been incredible,\u201d Rangel said. \u201cTonight\u2019s film shows how far we\u2019ve come, and there is no better place to show it than here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPillion\u201d received widespread acclaim<\/a> for its lighthearted, earnest portrayal of the dom-sub dynamics involved in the BDSM and leather scenes, facets of LGBTQ+ culture with historical roots in San Francisco dating back to the early 1960s.<\/p>\n

In early 2018, the City of San Francisco established<\/a> the city\u2019s South of Market neighborhood \u2014 home to the annual Folsom Street Fair celebration of kink culture \u2014 as an official \u201cLGBT and Leather Cultural District\u201d after community advocates lobbied City Hall to formally recognize its significance in the city\u2019s vibrant queer history.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charlie Carpenter and Suki Berry after the the screening of A24\u2019s \u201cPillion\u201d at the Castro Theatre on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Lindsey Hoang<\/a> \/ Golden Gate Xpress)<\/p>\n

As an active member of the local BDSM scene, San Francisco State University alum Charlie Carpenter found the power dynamics of her community properly represented on the screen for the first time, particularly in the mainstream.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who\u2019s sought out an accurate D-S dynamic in film, it\u2019s rare to come across [one] where you\u2019re like \u2018Oh, that\u2019s relatable,\u2019\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cBefore I saw this movie, I was like, \u2018I hope [the filmmakers] ask somebody something,\u2019 and it definitely felt that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sloane Holzer first moved to San Francisco to be a part of the city\u2019s leather scene. She thinks Lighton did a fantastic job using humour as a means of introducing an often misunderstood culture for a wider audience in a \u201cdisarming\u201d way that invites viewers to empathize with characters they might not otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was genuinely a very heartfelt representation of a community that I think gets very often maligned,\u201d Holzer said. \u201cThere\u2019s something about [\u201cPillion\u201d] being so intentionally sweet and easygoing in a lot of ways. It really brings you in in a very effortless way.\u201d<\/p>\n

As \u201cPillion\u201d makes landfall across the pond following its $1.5 million-grossing run across the U.K. and Ireland through late 2025, Melling hopes the film will continue to resonate with members of the community, as well as evoke conversations of empathy and understanding among American audiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully they can feel something true and a reflection of their experience,\u201d Melling said. \u201cBut also for people that aren\u2019t familiar, they now have a window into understanding what it is to be part of this subculture. Hopefully that can provide empathy in a time where we need to have more empathy and kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In one of the Castro Theatre\u2019s first events since its Feb. 6 reopening, the newly-rennovated theater hosted director…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-177747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}