Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
My Policeman tells a structurally familiar forbidden-love story across two timelines, with the period setting and gay theme handled competently but without great distinction. The acting is earnest — Harry Styles receives mixed notices for emotional range, while Emma Corrin and David Dawson fare better — but the ensemble never quite elevates the material. Cinematography is handsome and period-appropriate without being visually inventive. The dual-timeline romance between a closeted policeman and a museum curator in 1950s Brighton is emotionally resonant but well-trodden territory, offering little that hasn't been explored more powerfully elsewhere (e.g., Brokeback Mountain, Maurice). The ending, meant to be cathartic, feels muted and somewhat unsatisfying, leaving threads unresolved in a way that reads more as incompleteness than deliberate ambiguity.