How ‘Pillion’ Secured an R Rating in the U.S. for a Bdsm Rom-Com: Less Penis Shaft, Reduced Gagging Noises and De-Glistened Semen

Steven Spielberg probably doesn’t know this, but he served as an unlikely source of inspiration when it came to editing “Pillion,” the kinky and sexually graphic British sub-dom rom-com getting a limited release with A24 in the U.S. on Feb. 6 (before it expands wide on Feb. 20).

Indeed, should the legendary filmmaker ever watch Harry Lighton’s acclaimed directorial debut — which recently landed three BAFTA nominations — he may notice how it adopts his ethos from “Jaws,” where he was famously frugal about revealing the actual shark.

That said, in the case of “Pillion” the monster from the deep isn’t a pneumatic Great White with notorious mechanical difficulties, but Alexander Skarsgård’s impressively-sized prosthetic penis.

In a pivotal early scene of the film, timid loner Colin (Harry Melling) has his first sexual encounter with hunky biker Ray (Skarsgård) in a dark alleyway. But for the moment when Ray unzips…