My Policeman
Watch it for...
A poignant exploration of forbidden love, intense societal pressure, and personal sacrifice, all brought to life by powerful performances.
Synopsis
When a sick, older man is brought to live with a couple at their seaside home, there’s an odd tension—the woman wants him to stay, while her husband clearly does not. The story then pulls back the curtain on the history of these three people in their younger years, and you come to realize all they have gone through together. Tom (Harry Styles) was a policeman in 1950s England. His plans to marry Marion (Emma Corrin) are complicated by his undeniable attraction to Patrick (David Dawson), an art museum curator. During a time when homosexuality is a crime, Tom struggles with his marriage to Marion and his love for Patrick. At the same time, Marion has been trying to find meaning in her own life after confronting the truth about her husband. Many years later, will all of them be able to reconcile with their tumultuous past?
Give me a good forbidden romance with a lot of angst, and I’m on board! I actually stumbled onto this film while scrolling one night, and the premise immediately hooked me—to fall in love with another man when your job is actually to arrest men who love men—what could be more forbidden than that?
As a member of the LGBTQ community, I’m always on the lookout for well-told LGBTQ stories. This one immediately got me invested in the characters; I wanted to know how the story, for all of them, finally turns out. I was especially curious about Marion, the wife who was still married to Tom, as an older woman and wondering how that was, or wasn’t, working out for her. Her piece of the puzzle was somewhat surprising in the end.
What distinguishes My Policeman from other LGBTQ period films is that the moody scenery of the present time is nicely contrasted with a more fast-paced story in the past, creating a gripping, emotional drama. It’s not a light popcorn movie, but when you’re in the mood for something engrossing, this story will definitely move you.