My Policeman review: ‘Don’t listen to the critics – Harry Styles is an arresting lead’

Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Amazon Prime Video
 
It must be bemusing to be Harry Styles. As his music hits new heights – ‘As It Was’ is once again atop the Global Track Chart for a record 21st week – his acting career’s being (unfairly) read for filth. It’s a fine line. (Sorry.) 

A recap: no sooner was he mocked for his Worcestershire-California cadence in Don’t Worry Darling‘s trailer (“Styles is charisma-free,” The Indy later said) than he’s dragged for comments to Rolling Stone UK about gay sex in his latest movie, My Policeman.

“So much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the tenderness from it,” opined Styles, adding of the 1950s Brighton-set film, in which he plays salt-of-the-earth boy in blue Tom, who embarks on an illegal affair with sophisticated museum curator Patrick (David Dawson, above left): “There will be … some people who watch it who were very much alive during this time and [director Michael Grandage] wanted to show that it’s tender and loving and sensitive.”

Let’s unpack that for a paragraph. If he were talking about gay porn, we’d agree. It is, after all, the influential ‘gay sex in film’ from which many take their cues. But cinema? Perhaps Styles had recently seen 2022’s orgy-tastic – and sexually free and fabulous! – Fire Island, but didn’t care for it. Otherwise, it’s hard to follow his logic, so straight-washed and sanitised is gay sex on the silver screen, historically. (Remember the shy camera in Call Me By Your Name? To wit, Billy Eichner brilliantly rights this wrong in the eye-popping trailer for gay romcom, Bros.)

But where Styles’ remarks were fanciful, the resulting avalanche of slyly condemning op-eds and snippy tweets were mostly hyperbolic, contributing to a repressive climate (because an alternative to canceling someone is surely limiting them) where it’s a wonder anyone’s brave enough to discuss matters of sexuality at all, except within an increasingly punitive set of circumstances.
 
Styles didn’t deserve the nastiness he got then, and he doesn’t deserve smart-alecy comments now, as reviews emerge from last night’s Toronto Film Festival premiere. Attitude saw Policeman a few months ago, and were struck by the irresistible charm of Styles’ impressive, finely-judged take on tortured bisexuality. This is categorically not a Mariah Carey-in-Glitter moment. And for this viewer, at least, Styles’ past statements about his own sexuality lend the performance texture; an air of gutsiness.
 
But enough about him. The is an equally weighted ensemble cast, of which Emma Corrin is the other A-list casting. They deserve huge praise for their delicate and haunting turn as Tom’s betrayed wife, Marion, pouring forth numerous subtle expressions that speak a thousand words, as deployed with such stealth on The Crown. Corrin’s Marion is all simplicity and commonality – frustrated spouses across the country will relate – and worlds apart from their bold public persona. (The same goes for Styles.)

 
The lesser-known David Dawson, with his mournful eyes and crisp, clipped accent, is meanwhile a heartbreaking revelation, while the indomitable Gina McKee, as the older Marion, is the ace up Policeman‘s sleeve, portraying a gentle, unassuming everywoman finally deciding to act on a lifetime of disappointment and regret, but via sad stoicism rather than a dramatic reckoning. Rupert Everett and Linus Roache – as the older Patrick and Tom, respectively – are similarly restrained and impeccable.

Perhaps too restrained. My Policeman’s main flaw is not giving this distinguished trio enough to do. Particularly Everett, who’s overdue a ‘big’ acting moment, but whose work here is quietly moving.

Indeed, under Grandage’s elegant, unfussy direction, this take on Bethen Roberts’ 2012 novel is understated to a fault. (“Your standard, polished ITV drama,” as one friend of Attitude puts it.) It’s certainly not the vehicle for exhibition one might have expected from Styles’ first lead outing, and was never going to attract the kind of drama Don’t Worry Darling is getting. In some ways, it’s kind of random that it exists, but we’re not complaining.

 
Besides, many will appreciate its anti-soap opera tone, nevertheless sweepingly emotional by the end, and recognise that, despite boasting two of the most fascinating stars of their generation, My Policeman is, quite decisively, a stripped-back film about everyday people. It’s a curious thing to see Corrin and Styles pull that off.

The latter’s involvement, furthermore, will doubtless teach millions of youngsters valuable LGBTQ history lessons; people who otherwise might scroll by such sober content. (Homosexuality was partially decriminalised in 1967, FYI)
 
If the film itself needs more bang, the sex scenes, at least, pop: they’re as tender and tasteful as they are strong and daring, with Dawson and Styles throwing themselves in with gusto. They have such different energies that, on paper, you’d bet against them having chemistry. But on-screen, it works. There’s mesmeric energy between all three leads, in fact: so much so, that one wonders if screenwriter Ron Nyswaner considered embellishing the lean plot to include a ménage à trois storyline, which might have helped Policeman break more ground in what it has to say about sex and sexuality. 

Rating: 4/5

My Policeman is set for a limited theatrical release on 21 October in the US and will premiere on Prime Video on 4 November in the UK.