MY POLICEMAN

Unfortunately the movie spells out the entire backstory in fifties flashbacks that are bland, overwrought and rely too much on the acting of Harry Styles, which is all surface and no substance.

There is a decent movie hidden somewhere in My Policeman but the makers refuse to let it out.

The film, which is broken down in two timeframes that are cross-edited throughout, is mostly a pleasure to watch when it takes place in the nineties and a recently retired couple takes in an old friend who's had a stroke.

Anchored by excellent performances by Gina McKee, Rupert Everett and especially Linus Roach, this part of My Policeman is nuanced, intriguing and slowly reveals the layers of what turns out to be a pretty tragic tale about forced homosexual repression.

Unfortunately the movie spells out the entire backstory in fifties flashbacks that are bland, overwrought and rely too much on the acting of Harry Styles, which is all surface and no substance. This part of the film - despite fine production values - never rises above the level of an average movie-of-the-week and contributes negatively to a denouement that falls entirely flat with it's predictable message, which ultimately makes My Policeman a failed film.

release: 2022

director: Michael Grandage

starring: Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, David Dawson, Gina McKee, Rupert Everett, Linus Roach