A suburban sexual awakening – what to watch and see this ...

Home

Edition

Africa Australia Brasil Canada Canada (français) España Europe France Global Indonesia New Zealand United Kingdom United States

Edition: Global

Africa
Australia
Brasil
Canada
Canada (français)
España
Europe
France
Indonesia
New Zealand
United Kingdom
United States

s Newsletters

Academic rigour, journalistic flair Colin and Ray walking down a street.

Colin and Ray in Bromley. A24 A suburban sexual awakening – what to watch and see this week Published: November 28, 2025 1.39pm GMT Naomi Joseph, The Conversation

Author

Naomi Joseph
Arts + Culture Editor

Partners

View all partners

DOI

https://doi.org/10.64628/AB.3cggce5dj

https://theconversation.com/a-suburban-sexual-awakening-what-to-watch-and-see-this-week-270844 https://theconversation.com/a-suburban-sexual-awakening-what-to-watch-and-see-this-week-270844 Link copied Share article

Copy link Email Bluesky Facebook WhatsApp Messenger LinkedIn X (Twitter)

Print article

Bromley has never struck me as an exciting place – perhaps because I spent part of my teenage years loitering in its aggressively grey 1980s shopping centre, The Glades. I always found it bizarre that it was technically London; it felt too stiflingly suburban to belong to any city. So it’s not a setting I ever expected for a queer BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism) story. And yet, it turns out to be the perfect backdrop for Pillion’s main character.

Colin (Harry Melling) is a timid gay man living with his parents and working a dead-end job as a traffic warden. His drab world is changed when he meets Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), a magnetic, leather-clad member of a local biker gang. It’s a seemingly implausible pairing. But Ray clearly sees something in mild-mannered Colin.

They agree to meet outside Bromley Primark on Christmas Day. What begins as a rough, transactional alleyway hook-up escalates quickly into a strict BDSM relationship. A willing “slave”, Colin finds himself living in Ray’s house and carrying out to his every command – whether sexual or domestic.

As our reviewer, Chantal Gautier – an expert in sex therapy – observes, the film explores power, eroticism, masculinity and identity:

“For Colin, the dominant-submissive slave journey becomes a path of self-discovery, allowing him to recognise what he wants, what he excels at – his ‘aptitude for devotion’ – and ultimately who he is.”

The result is a surprisingly funny, tender film about a man who finds his way out of drudgery and towards self-actualisation. It just happens he does so through BDSM.

Pillion is in cinemas now

Read more: Pillion: what a sex therapy expert thinks of this domination-themed queer rom-com

Pillion holds plenty of surprises – including an unexpectedly Christmassy vibe. It’s not a straight Christmas movie (pun intended), but it’s Christmassy in the way Bridget Jones is. As the holiday season approaches, we’d love to know which “accidentally Christmassy” film you think makes the best festive viewing. Cast your vote in our poll, and feel free to reply to this email with any favourites we’ve missed.

Ongoing good yarns

For a more family-friendly option, Zootropolis 2 arrives in cinemas today – and our reviewer, Laura O'Flanagan, found it a delight. Sequels to beloved films often stumble, as we explored in last week’s email about Wicked: For Good. Only a few match the magic of the original, and an even smaller handful surpass it. Judging by your poll responses, Paddington 2 still reigns as readers’ favourite second outing.

Zootropolis 2 doesn’t stumble, according to O'Flanagan, joyously returing with the laugh-out-loud animal charm that made the first film such a hit. Bunny detective Judy Hopps is back, now partnered with reformed fox-turned-cop Nick Wilde. Their latest case involves a slippery reptile suspect, a stolen journal and a mystery that leads them straight into the heart of Zootropolis.

Zootropolis 2 is in cinemas now

Read more: Zootropolis 2: this funny, heartfelt crowd-pleaser is a worthy sequel with something to say

If you want to stay at home this weekend, then you can hunker down with volume one of the final season of Stranger Things. The rag-tag team of gangly teens are set for a showdown where only one reality can survive: the real world of Hawkins or the monstrous mirror world of the villain Vecna, known as the Upside Down.

The story of Stranger Things has spun out in bursts over nine years, and fans had to wait three and a half for this final instalment. In this piece, psychologist Edward White explains the grip this ode to 80s nostalgia and sci-fi storytelling has had on people – the answer is hauntology, which is the use of elements from the past.

Stranger Things season five, volume one is available to stream on Netflix now

Read more: Stranger Things has kept our attention through clever use of 'hauntology' – a psychologist explains

New takes on heritage art

BBC Civilisations has long been a landmark BBC series. First commissioned in 1969 by Sir David Attenborough to showcase the new medium of colour television, its original run followed art historian Kenneth Clarke as he traced western culture from the fall of Rome to the Romantics. It then got a second outing in 2018, fronted by historians Mary Beard, David Olusoga and Simon Schama.

Now the series returns with four expansive episodes on the collapse of major civilisations: the Roman Empire, the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Aztecs and Edo Samurai of Japan. The BBC again experiments with format, blending high-tech docudrama, expert commentary and artefacts from the British Museum. We asked four specialists – one for each civilisation – to assess the episodes and suggest further reading. Their verdicts were mixed, but the series offers plenty to think about.

Civilisations Rise and Fall is airing on BBC One every Monday

Read more: Does BBC Civilisations get its four stories of collapse correct? Experts weigh in

If you’re in Paris this winter, don’t miss the exquisite exhibition now on at the Petit Palais. Paname brings together Bilal Hamdad’s serene, contemporary visions of Paris, displayed alongside the museum’s grand masters – a pairing that captivated our reviewer Anna-Louise Milne. In this dialogue between old and new, the past feels refreshed and the present gains unexpected gravitas.

The show features three new commissions created with the permanent collection in mind. Across Hamdad’s large-scale canvases, you can see how deeply he has absorbed the city’s artistic heritage. His works are at once human, modern, and timelessly Parisian. Milne was especially struck by one painting that subtly echoes Édouard Manet’s Un bar aux Folies Bergère.

Bilal Hamdad’s Paname is on at the Petit Palais in Paris from October 17 2025 to February 8 2026

Read more: Bilal Hamdad’s paintings of Paris life show the thrill of new art when embedded within the grandeur of the old

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.