Harry Styles from One Direction has been a busy bee. Breaking into his acting career with the period-piece Dunkirk (2017), Harry has managed to cross the threshold from international pop star to multimedia superstar.
Lucky for us, it appears Harry enjoys acting enough to fit more movies into a schedule already packed with sold out concerts, writing notes for dads, and aggressive world travel.
Making a surprise appearance at the end of Marvel’s Eternals (2021), Harry was able to show off a long suspected ability to keep secrets. Fans pointed to the 2019 Capital Breakfast interview, featuring an iconic lavender robe, to show Harry’s hair was dyed red and no one noticed at the time.
Amidst this growing list of roles Harry was even kind enough to take a chance with a first time director for a movie similar in theme to The Stepford Wives, which starred Nicole Kidman (2004).
But let’s not waste anymore time before we delve into the most anticipated movie Harry has been in to date.
My Policeman.
The film is set to release through Amazon Prime in late fall of 2022, according to Harry’s recent interview on the Howard Stern Show. My Policeman, starring Harry Styles, Emma Corrin and David Dawson, is adapted from a book with the same title by Bethan Roberts.
Set in the 1950’s in Brighton, England, the story explores the life of a young teacher Marion (Emma Corrin) who falls in love with her best friend’s brother Tom (Harry Styles).
While Marion tries to win Tom over, Tom meets Patrick (David Dawson) who shows him a new world. Since being gay is considered a crime in 1950’s England, Tom goes on to marry Marion to keep his love for the same-sex a secret.
Emma Corrin and David Dawson both are openly part of the lgbtq+ community. Styles, who doesn’t publicly label sexuality, recently told Better Homes and Gardens “I’ve been really open with it with my friends, but that’s my personal experience; it’s mine.” This film is about a closeted gay man who pretends to be in love with a woman and it’s made by gay producers and staring a queer cast.
Reviews for My Policeman have been exceptionally positive, and the praise doesn’t fall short for Harry either. Let’s hear from someone who went to a pre-screening first.
Rhi, how long have you been a Harry fan?
“I have been a Harry fan since One Direction–but my love for him grew exponentially when I started college. It was around the time that I began exploring sexuality while also revisiting a lot of golden gems that I abandoned during a dark part of my life.”
How did you get invited to the screening? How excited were you to go?
“I never would have known if it wasn’t for my friends tagging me in posts and scream texting me. I submitted the form before I knew it was 100% real, which is maybe not the smartest thing but hey it worked. I will say I was hesitant to go, not in the sense that I didn’t want to support Harry, but more so in the context of do I have the mental capacity to watch a film centered around queer trauma. At the end of the day, I figured that the best I could do was go and give honest feedback–knowing that this film centers on difficult topics.”
Do any songs on hs3 remind you of the movie or make you feel the same way?
“Little Freak !!!!!!! Love of my Life for sure. Matilda but I am not giving that any context but it fits a scene perfectly. Little Freak is the winner for me though.”
Did you learn anything from this movie? What was it?
“I was already knowledgeable of queer struggles in the 50s (history major here) but I enjoyed the film. I could tell that they were trying to find the balance of how real they wanted to be, and you could tell how they grappled with that balance a bit in the screening. With that being said, I hope they worked more on the historical context–they put a small bit of what it was like being a gay man in the 50s, but it is sorta thrown in at an odd time.”
What did you like best about the movie?
“The ending. Literally cannot explain more. You will know when you see it basically. But besides that–I forgot I was watching harry. I fell into the story so easily and that is coming from someone who despised the book. There is so much I want to say ahhhh.
Gay sex wasn’t sexualized. It was intimate, caring, and well thought out. Not your typical porno type inclusion of ‘rough, kinky sex’ … it was love and care.”
Was there anything you loved about it other than plot and characters?
“They carry color palettes with the characters in their young and old stages. Patrick’s yellow cardigan, remember that, bestie.
Cinematography as a whole I loved–but I will say that there was extra care in the intimate scenes with Tom and Patrick.”
While the media and fans alike are ecstatic to see My Policeman, we can’t forget the importance of this film to Harry’s career and the LGBTQIA+ community. Harry is a man of many talents, and we are only at the beginning of what appears to be a long, multimedia career for this international megastar. With big hits like Dunkirk and Eternals making waves on the Big Screen, we are excited to see what My Policeman on the smaller screen is going to do for Harry’s career and the LGBTQIA+ community.
