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Sometimes I look at Harry Styles and I feel bad for him. Not because he isn’t getting a fair shake, but because someone told him he could be a leading man without warning him about the time and work needed to become one. Hot on the heels of the world premiere of his upcoming “Don’t Worry Darling,” the Olivia Wilde-directed movie mired in controversy and less than generous reviews for his performance, Styles’ second film of 2022 is an adaptation of Bethan Roberts ’ same-titled novel. Here, Styles’ inexperience as a leading man in a weepy British queer period piece is glaring. As the film's protagonist PC Tom Burgess, he stands and speaks like a tourist awkwardly stumbling upon a movie set. His co-star, Emma Corrin , is hardly better as his stuffy lover. Corrin tussles with the least developed character of the bunch, but much like Styles, never proves themselves as a lead. How can a movie with this much youthful talent be so breathlessly boring?

Helmed by an adequate Michael Grandage , “My Policeman” begins in the present day with the older versions of these characters: Tom ( Linus Roache ) and Marion ( Gina McKee ), now retired, live in a seaside town as they go through the motions of their milquetoast marriage. Their steady march toward resignation—which Tom momentarily pauses whenever he visits the sea with their dog—is interrupted with the arrival of their old, now estranged friend Patrick ( Rupert Everett ). A guilt-ridden Marion volunteered to care for him after a debilitating stroke left him nearly bedridden. And while Marion is ready to bury the proverbial hatchet, Tom refuses to see the man his wife says they owe so much to because he “Taught [them] how to see art.”

The pain that Patrick caused the couple is what “My Policeman” hopes to tell us about. And yet, how it tells us, and what it thinks we hope to gain from this story, comes with little flair and even less self-awareness.

The past on a sunny beach in 1950s Britain, where Marion (Corrin) sees the dashing Tom (Styles certainly isn’t lacking in the looks department) running across the sand. He teaches her how to swim; the pair soon start dating. Humble and working-class, Tom is the total opposite of the educated, arts-focused Marion. It’s why Tom goes to such lengths to read about paintings. The two eventually meet Patrick ( David Dawson ), a museum curator who knows Tom from being a witness in one of his cases. The trio become inseparable. It even appears that Patrick might be attracted to Marion, and her to him. That is, until we discover that Tom and Patrick are in a closeted sexual relationship.

The messy triangle that forms from these two competing relationships is meant to suggest tension and sympathy for a hopelessly romantic woman seemingly being a victim of two men, who are also victims of the country’s homophobic laws. We come to find, however, that this trio doesn’t fit into easy boxes: Tom demands law and order; Marion is homophobic; and Patrick is somehow their friend. This conundrum would provide juicy drama if any of these actors possessed a speck of chemistry with the other. It doesn’t help that Grandage, through his blocking and coverage, and the editing by Chris Dickens (“ Slumdog Millionaire ”) try their best to hide Styles’ deficiencies. His physical understanding of the character lacks specificity; his line deliveries are monotone; he doesn’t project allure. There is no interiority or charm in anything he does. Even his sex scenes—where Grandage confuses bare skin and moaning for passion—are without bite.

Instead, “My Policeman” finds smoother ground in the present-day scenes with a trio of older actors who can elevate a script. Make no mistake, the prime culprit in this soporific film is a terrible screenplay that tells a gay love story through the elderly Marion, a straight cis-woman, adopting Patrick’s memories by reading his diaries. It's also frustrating how the script's set-up is initially intriguing, only for a twist to throw all of the built up tension and angst out without a coherent vision for what comes next. And a rushed ending doesn’t instill any further confidence. The fact that the inner lives of these characters are so underwritten you barely understand their psychology—especially with the flawed Marion, who still might be homophobic—makes them unmemorable.

“My Policeman” is surface-level queer representation lacking in visual imagination and begging for better performances. It’s the kind of glacially paced movie that sticks around for two hours and tells its viewer nothing new; a series of moving images without any sense of emotion or wonder. “My Policeman” commits the gravest of crimes—it’s soulless.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12. "My Policeman" arrives in theaters on October 21 and will be available on Prime Video on November 4.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the New York Times , IndieWire , and Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the Los Angeles Times , and Rolling Stone about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Film credits.

My Policeman (2022)

Rated R for sexual content.

113 minutes

Harry Styles as Tom Burgess

Emma Corrin as Marion Taylor

David Dawson as Patrick Hazlewood

Gina McKee as Older Marion

Linus Roache as Older Tom

Rupert Everett as Older Patrick

Michael Grandage

Writer (novel)

Bethan Roberts
Ron Nyswaner

Cinematographer

Steven Price

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“My Policeman” is an absorbing, resonant, deeply wistful adaptation of the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts that will probably be best appreciated — stylistically, thematically, romantically — if judged more within the context of its mainly mid-20th century setting than by contemporary expectations.

If anything, the film’s vivid re-creation of a more repressive era, in this case in England, where homosexual activity between men was long illegal (it was first conditionally decriminalized in 1967), proves a stark and crucial reminder of how far LBGTQ+ rights and acceptance have come in much of the world — and perhaps how fragile such equality continues to be.

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In 1957 Brighton, a young policeman named Tom ( Harry Styles ) has a chance encounter with local museum curator Patrick (David Dawson) that turns into something much more than a friendship. Meanwhile, Tom, his unsuspecting girlfriend, Marion ( Emma Corrin ), and the worldly Patrick form a kind of troika and share an ebullient series of summertime adventures. But when Tom and Marion marry, said trio turns into a pair of duos — and dueling ones at that — and the inevitable emotional, social and sexual complications ensue, including one extraordinarily grave betrayal.

It’s all quite sensitively and credibly handled by the deft cast, director (and acclaimed stage veteran) Michael Grandage and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia,” “The Painted Veil”). Particularly effective are the ways in which certain moments are informatively, revealingly replayed once we’re let in on the extent of Tom and Patrick’s clandestine romance. The intoxicating love “that dare not speak its name” between the two men is almost tangibly compelling.

The overall story, though, is told in flashback from the 1990s, when we find the older Tom (Linus Roache), Marion (Gina McKee) and Patrick (Rupert Everett) reunited under, to say the least, difficult circumstances: Marion has arranged for Patrick, who has suffered a life-altering stroke, to recuperate with her and Tom (they’re still married but unhappily) in their seaside cottage, against Tom’s wishes.

Harry Styles, Emma Corrin and David Dawson in 'My Policeman'

How the Emma Corrin, Harry Styles drama ‘My Policeman’ tells a timely story of queer love

Directed by Michael Grandage and premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, ‘My Policeman’ is a reminder of the dangers of the recent past.

Sept. 11, 2022

For the onetime bobby, who’s pretty much shut away the “Patrick” chapter of his earlier life, the mere presence of his ex-lover — profoundly debilitated though he may be — is clearly too much for Tom to bear and he refuses to see him (not easy in such a small house). But, maybe inspired by reading some of Patrick’s old journals or just finally coming to terms with the life she’s settled for all these years, Marion puts her own personal plan into motion. It may not make for a hugely surprising turn but still one that’s beautifully understated and satisfying.

Stirringly shot by Ben Davis (that hallway image of the older Marion secretly watching Tom watching Patrick is a knockout), evocatively scored by Steven Price and peppered with several familiar, well-used standards, the movie could have withstood a bit more behavioral dissection of each of the main characters as well as a stronger recap of their lives between the tale’s two time periods.

In addition, there’s something of a disconnect between the younger and older Tom’s personalities; their essences don’t fully align. There’s a gentle guilelessness and quiet charm to Tom’s 1950s self that seems to have vanished from the surlier, more remote 1990s version (no fault of the capable Roache), the enduring and complex fallout of his affair with Patrick notwithstanding.

Fortunately, young Tom, engagingly played with a kind of accessibly dreamy, everyman charisma by actor-pop star-“it boy” Styles, is largely such an appealing and affecting character that he carries the day here.

Dawson also cuts a provocative, empathetic figure. Corrin and McKee prove well-matched halves of the vulnerable, long-suffering Marion, while Everett makes the most of a small, but intense and arduous role.

'My Policeman'

Rated: R, for sexual content Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes Playing: In limited release; available Nov. 4 on Prime Video

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My Policeman Reviews

The overall presentation may be uneven and it won’t be a film that many people will remember or revisit in a few years time. However, I found myself captivated by the tale and that is all I ask with a story like this.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Mar 1, 2024

Michael Grandage’s gay romance is a heartbreaking delight, even though it won’t win Harry Styles an Oscar.

Full Review | Nov 2, 2023

Despite impeccable credentials, good looking leads, spot-on period details and heart-wrenching love stories, Michael Grandage’s adaptation of a celebrated novel is an inexplicable slog.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2023

My Policeman has the potential to tell an intriguing story about self-acceptance, the freedom of love, and overcoming odds in a time when more representation like this is needed. However, nearly all aspects of it fall flat.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 26, 2023

It's terribly melodramatic. If similar movies like Brokeback Mountain didn’t exist, this film might be more effective. We have examples of better stories with two gay male leads pushing and pulling themselves in an era that didn’t accept their love.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

My Policeman would like to paint itself as a sprawling love story that’s sensual, emotional, and nuanced, but it’s a slog. The three main characters are too wrapped up in their own melodrama to have a lasting impact on the audience.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

My Policeman is an emotional and visually stunning watch, yet it's average dialogue and surface level exploration stops it from reaching true greatness.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 24, 2023

My Policeman finds itself corseted by a screenplay that doesn't meet expectations. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 20, 2023

Dour and flavorless...

Full Review | May 30, 2023

There are some holes in the plot. It seems unlikely this drama would have continued for so many years without confrontations. The actors are all very good and very convincing, and that helps make up for the shortfall in the story.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Feb 1, 2023

If nothing else, My Policeman effectively conveys how judgement, prejudice and cowardice is all contingent upon choices and actions. How those actions can change and enhance a life or ruin it for an eternity with an outcome that can not be reversed.

Full Review | Dec 28, 2022

The directing of this novel is very well done. Harry Styles & David Dawson have organic chemistry that is felt even in the older actors portraying them respectfully. In terms of the narrative and progress at times feels overlong, but still keeps you glued

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Dec 26, 2022

My Policeman is an objectively well-made film documenting a secret situation that must have been far more common in the 1950s and 1960s than modern-day viewers are capable of knowing

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 22, 2022

Riddled with a miscast leading man, ill-fitting clichés, and a predictable conclusion, the film is a stiff, passionless affair.

Full Review | Dec 7, 2022

The performances are all good, though Styles doesn’t quite have the chops to pull off a couple of Tom’s more demanding emotional scenes...

Full Review | Dec 5, 2022

A finely etched relationship drama set at a time when homosexuality was illegal and violence against them almost became a sport...while it's a good film, it’s not exactly uplifting. Be prepared to get misty-eyed, but don’t fault yourself if you do.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 22, 2022

It’s an extremely ponderous approach and, at first, it’s actually confusing...

Full Review | Nov 17, 2022

It's a screenplay that certainly takes its time. Many in the audience will feel they've worked out the entirety of its plot within the first 15 minutes. For the most part, they're right...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 16, 2022

It’s Styles over substance.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 16, 2022

Director Michael Grandage does little to interrupt the monotony in failing to make a point beyond how stifling it was to be gay in mid-century England.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Nov 15, 2022

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My Policeman review: Harry Styles is a man of two minds in a lush but limited romantic drama

Styles is the object of everyone's affection in director Michael Grandage's sensuous adaptation of a 1950s love triangle.

Leah Greenblatt is the critic at large at Entertainment Weekly , covering movies, music, books, and theater. She is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, and has been writing for EW since 2004.

My Policeman is a movie set in both 1957 and the late 1990s, based on a novel first published ten years ago. But when one of your featured actors is the biggest pop star in the world in 2022, strange things happen to the reality-distortion field around a film. Policeman , which had its North American premiere last night in Toronto , is in almost every way the most classic kind of high-toned British period piece: a tea-kettle swoon steeped in stolen gazes, flocked wallpaper, and long meaningful walks along windswept coastlines. But it is also the story of a love that, back then at least, dared not speak its name between a closeted young officer ( Harry Styles ), his naive bride-to-be ( The Crown 's Emma Corrin ), and the man he actually has endless, gymnastic sex with (David Dawson).

The result, adapted by lauded London theater director Michael Grandage, is fevered, lovely to look at, and at times deeply silly; a plush romantic drama that somehow manages to be both explicit and decorous, like horny Merchant Ivory. Its title also could have been Everybody Loves Harry : He's the film's ever-elusive object of desire, a dimpled dreamboat named Tom who first comes to Corrin's Marion, a schoolteacher-in-training, on a Brighton beach, the elder brother of her childhood friend and a long-simmering crush who finally deigns to turn his attention her way. Within weeks they're seeing each other regularly, though it rarely turns physical outside a few polite grazes in the swimming pool ("He's a gentleman," she insists pluckily to a coworker). He's also eager to improve himself with art and literature, and she's glad enough to show him what she knows, even if they never seem to have much to talk about outside the water.

One of those cultural expeditions leads to the local museum, where a dashing, courtly curator named Patrick (Dawson), whom Tom once met in a traffic accident on the job, is eager to expand their world with lectures and recitals. Patrick also naturally seems to ease the unspoken awkwardness between them, and soon the three of them have become a happy platonic throuple, having the kind of young-people fun that movie montages are made of. Or at least Marion believes it's all platonic; we know nearly from the beginning that it's not because of the film's framing device, in which a 40-years-older Marion (Gina McKee) has taken in Patrick ( Rupert Everett ), now an invalid badly impaired by a stroke, much to the chagrin if not outright fury of Tom (Linus Roache).

Patrick can hardly speak anymore, but a caregiver has also brought along a box of old things, including his diaries from those long-ago days. And as the flashbacks unfold, it's clear there was never much of a triangle at all: Tom and Patrick were crazy about each other. What the characters will do with this very British cycle of repression, release, and heroic self-denial is rendered in the script, by Ron Nyswaner ( Philadelphia , The Painted Veil ), in sometimes delicate but more often jarringly unsubtle ways. That's a hazard, maybe, of trying to adapt the internalized world of a novel for the screen: Subtext becomes bolded and underlined as characters rush to spell out their intentions or long-held secrets in ways that may serve the plot — or at least make for gorgeous, tragic metaphors — but rarely resemble real life.

While the casting of Everett and Roache seems as if it should have been swapped to more physically resemble their younger counterparts and Corrin feels sidelined as a character by design, the actors still do a lot to bring nuance where it doesn't always exist. Dawson ( All the Old Knives ) is quietly affecting as a man so used to subterfuge and fear that he's become defiant in the face of it; he knows the rules of survival as a gay man in a midcentury England where his "lifestyle" is still a felony crime, and how to somehow find pleasure in the cracks in between.

Styles' style is more remote: His Tom often feels like a cipher, thoughtful and charming one moment and heedlessly cruel and manipulative the next. That also makes sense in a way; Tom is, after all, a stranger to himself. And Styles doesn't hold back in the sex scenes, which seem destined to live a long life outside the film online and amongst his considerable fanbase. Otherwise Policeman , as emotionally earnest and elegantly made as it is, mostly feels like a movie we've seen many times before: a pleasantly escapist two hours with pretty people in pretty clothes, madly sublimating their feelings until the final, luminous frame. Grade: B–

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‘my policeman’ review: harry styles and emma corrin bring minimal heat to tepid gay melodrama.

A complicated love triangle in 1950s Brighton gets untangled 40 years later in Michael Grandage’s romantic drama, premiering in Toronto ahead of its Amazon release.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Harry Styles and Emma Corrin in 'My Policeman'

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Screen Rant

My policeman review: conventional drama is still emotionally effective [tiff].

It could have dug a lot deeper into its story & characters but while the love triangle drama is conventional, it will resonate with audiences.

Directed by Michael Grandage from a screenplay by Ron Nyswaner, My Policeman , adapted from the book by Bethan Roberts, is a story filled with pain, heartbreak, and regret. While it veers into melodrama territory and doesn’t explore its characters any more than it has to in order to make its point, My Policeman pulls at the heartstrings as it explores a tangled relationship between Tom and Patrick, a gay couple, and the woman the former married. It could have dug a lot deeper into its story and characters, some of which lack proper development, but while the love triangle drama is conventional, it will resonate with audiences nonetheless.

Set primarily in Brighton during the 1950s, Tom Burgess ( Harry Styles ), a policeman, meets and falls in love with Patrick Hazelwood (David Dawson), a museum curator. They carry on their relationship while Tom marries Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin), a schoolteacher who suspects that Patrick might be gay and is influencing Tom. Decades later, Patrick (Rupert Everett) is revealed to have had a stroke. Marion (Gina McKee) takes him in, caring for Patrick while trying to convince Tom (Linus Roache) that he should speak with his former lover. The past and present collide in a film that highlights the complicated relationships at its center and the past traumas they must all deal with.

Related: Forbidden Love Haunts Harry Styles in New My Policeman Trailer

Harry Styles is charming as younger Tom, though his performance doesn’t quite reach the levels of emotional depth needed to explore his character beyond the surface. The scene stealers here are certainly David Dawson as the young, passionate, and witty Patrick and Gina McKee, whose older Marion is trying so desperately to make amends, but is at her wit’s end trying to get through to her husband. Their respective performances offer so much longing, emotion, and empathy. It would have been so easy to paint Marion as a villain, but the script offers insight into her actions, and McKee delivers her final speech with so much heart, gusto, and frustration that one cannot help but feel sorry for her to some extent. The same goes for Dawson, who imbues Patrick with so much vulnerability. His performance is magnetic, infused with an abundance of charisma, sadness, love, sensitivity, empathy, and strength. The audience won’t be able to take their eyes off him.

My Policeman depicted how difficult it was to be gay in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. The passage of time allows the audience to see how much things have changed, but also how much shame and guilt can still plague the lives of queer people who suffered through such heinous laws and mistreatment (and still do to some extent). There is a lot of regret and anger that permeates the film, and it brings the tension between the trio of characters to a boil. But there is also joy, though short-lived, at having found the love of one’s life. The latter is just as crucial to include in a film laced with so much pain and emotional suffering. For a while, Tom and Patrick are happy; it’s a feeling that sustains Patrick at least for the remainder of his life.

The film’s biggest crime is that it waits too long for any real closure. The characters and their relationships with each other suffer because of it, leaving some of the depth that would have benefited them behind for a devastating ending that is so gut-wrenching it will no doubt leave many emotional. To that end, Marion and Patrick are written with more depth than Tom, who gets the short end of the stick because he would rather not express his emotions and avoids a number of hard situations out of discomfort. It leaves the audience wanting more from him, and he doesn’t fully get his big moment until the very end, which hinders Linus Roache’s performance especially because it neglects much of his perspective. The older Tom is still angry with himself, but there could have been more done to address aspects of his shame and regret.

And while the film could have spent more time exploring its central characters, their emotions, actions, and how time has shaped them in the intervening years, My Policeman remains a tender, heartbreaking film that has one of the most devastating and emotional final scenes in recent memory.

My Policeman had its premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11. The film releases in theaters October 21 and will be available to stream on Prime Video November 4. It is 113 minutes long and is rated R for sexual content.

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My Policeman review – Harry Styles and co underwhelm in 50s Brighton-set plodder

Styles leads a half-hearted cast as a copper whose marriage is rocked by the return of a figure from his past

B righton, the late 1950s. Dashing young policeman Tom (Harry Styles) and his girlfriend, Marion (Emma Corrin), strike up a friendship with Patrick, a suave museum curator (David Dawson). Some four decades later, Patrick has been incapacitated by a stroke and moves into the couple’s south coast semi. But while Marion cares for him diligently, Tom wants nothing to do with him. What follows is a murkily lit, glumly functional slog that hauls itself wearily back and forth through the timelines, revealing the ties that bind them all together, to the accompaniment of a lot of lachrymose piano on the score.

The best that can be said about Styles is that his is not the worst performance in Michael Grandage’s uninspired plodder, but that’s not much of an endorsement, given the half-hearted work from most of the cast.

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DVD & Streaming

My Policeman

Drama , Romance

Content Caution

In Theaters

Harry Styles as Younger Tom; Emma Corrin as Younger Marion; David Dawson as Younger Patrick; Gina McKee as Marion; Linus Roache as Tom; Rupert Everett as Patrick; Kadiff Kirwan as Nigel; Dora Davis as Sylvie; Joseph Potter as Roy; Freya Mavor as Julia; Maddie Rice as Jackie

Home Release Date

October 21, 2022
Michael Grandage

Distributor

Prime Video

Movie Review

Marion Burgess knows her husband, Tom, has homosexual tendencies. After all, she caught him and their good friend Patrick in an intimate moment just two days after she married him back in the 1950s.

What she didn’t know was how far things had gone between the men before she had met them (not to mention how far they continued to go even after she and Tom wed).

And she certainly didn’t know that bringing Patrick—who recently had a debilitating stroke—into their home now after so many years apart would anger Tom.

Marion didn’t know a lot of things, it would seem. But she (and audiences watching) learns all about the romance between Tom and Patrick as she reads Patrick’s journals from the year they all met and became friends.

Positive Elements

After Patrick’s stroke, Marion volunteers to care for him so that he won’t go to an “awful” nursing home. And though Tom accuses her of torturing him (because she wound up spending her life with Tom instead of Patrick), it would appear that Marion’s intentions are pure, and that she simply wanted to mend old wounds between friends.

Tom says he joined the police force because he wanted to protect and serve the people.

Spiritual Elements

A painting depicts the resurrection of Lazarus. A nun kisses her rosary after she spots two men kissing.

Sexual Content

I won’t get into the nitty gritty details here but suffice it to say that there are multiple gratuitous sex scenes between two men. And we see everything but their genitals.

In other scenes, men kiss each other. We hear that some gay men wear makeup and jewelry. Many people express disgust with homosexuality. (Marion ends a friendship after learning the woman has a female romantic partner.)

A couple of scenes show a married couple (man and woman) having sex (everything but their shoulders are covered) and kissing. People wear modest swimsuits at the beach and pool.

Though it’s not sexual in nature, a woman undresses a man to give him a sponge bath, and we see his exposed chest.

[ Spoiler Warning ] A gay man marries a woman under the pretense of being “fond” of her and wanting to have children. (He uses her to hide his homosexuality and to boost his career.) However, he continues to have an affair with another man even after marrying her. The wife eventually discovers his deception. She stays with him in the hope that he will choose her instead (even though they never do have children and they both blame each other for their unhappiness). But it isn’t until they are older and retired that she finally decides to leave him, having realized that he is (and always was) in love with the other man.

Violent Content

A gay man is tackled, hit and kicked by police after they catch him kissing another man in an alleyway. Another gay man is pulled out of his bunk in prison and beaten brutally by another inmate for his sexuality. We hear that Patrick’s former boyfriend was beaten to death by a “gang of thugs” for being a homosexual.

We hear that a gay man is receiving therapy to change his sexuality (which, at the time, involved harsh and dangerous methods).

Marion rips up a book in anger and later burns a postcard.

Men get into an argument at a pub and nearly get into a fight. We hear that a woman had an accident on her bike. A man says he despises police because of their “brutality.”

Crude or Profane Language

God’s name is abused six times and Christ’s another two. We hear about five uses each of “bloody” and “h—” (sometimes together). “What the devil?” is exclaimed twice. We hear a homosexual slur.

Drug and Alcohol Content

People smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol continuously throughout the film. Tom gets drunk on several occasions in what appears to be a coping mechanism. Marion bribes Patrick with cigarettes even though she was given strict orders from his nurses not to give him any. Patrick takes medication after his stroke.

Other Negative Elements

Patrick and Tom go to lengthy measure to ensure their romantic relationship isn’t discovered, since they could both lose their jobs and get arrested. Both men allow other gay men to be arrested in order to protect themselves.

Tom and Patrick both lie to Marion about the nature of their relationship. They seem to mock her ignorance (or at least her inability to do anything about it), carrying on behind her back and even travelling to her dream vacation destination without her. (Though to Tom’s credit, he does tell Patrick not to hurt Marion, adding that she is a “wonderful” person.)

In her attempt to save her marriage, Marion does a disservice to herself, Tom and Patrick by not talking to them about what’s going on between the two men. [ Spoiler Warning ] In her quiet jealousy, she eventually sells Patrick out, reporting him to the authorities to be arrested. (He spends two years getting physically assaulted in prison and then spends the rest of his life without friends or family as a result).

Tom treats the people around him poorly to hide his true feelings. He gaslights Marion on several occasions. Patrick also manipulates Marion. Both men act selfishly because they don’t want to be alone. [ Spoiler warning ] But their actions hurt Marion and eventually result in her being alone.

People lie. An older Patrick is sometimes rude to Marion as she tries to care for him after his stroke.

We hear several anti-police sentiments.

My Policeman would have us sympathize with people in the LGBT community. It demonstrates how men especially were beaten, jailed and even killed in the 1950s for being homosexual.

But while this violent treatment was inexcusable and wrong, My Policeman seems more focused on the sexual aspects of the story.

A lawyer trying Patrick in court for “gross indecency in a public convenience” and “endangering public morals” refuses to read lines from Patrick’s diary about his sexual encounters with Tom since they “border on obscenity.” Unfortunately, the filmmakers clearly didn’t see a need to protect audiences from those same obscenities.

Gratuitous —meaning unwarranted, unjustified and unnecessary—is the only word I can use to describe the sex scenes witnessed here. And that’s putting it mildly.

It should also be noted that there are no heroes in this story. Everyone who is mistreated also mistreats others. Apologies for these actions are few. And in the end, nobody (including audiences who choose to see this film) maintains their innocence.

Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.

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My Policeman

The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom's home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously. The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom's home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously. The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom's home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously.

Michael Grandage
Ron Nyswaner
Bethan Roberts
Harry Styles
Emma Corrin
197 User reviews
93 Critic reviews
50 Metascore
1 win & 4 nominations

Younger Tom

Younger Marion

Younger Patrick

Pianist London Café

Jackie Stewart

Pianist Argyle Bar

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

Trivia To prepare for his role, Harry Styles memorized the entire script. According to the director, Styles could recite every character's lines in a given scene.
Goofs Young Patrick's hair recedes much more than "Old" Patrick's.

[after learning of Marion's involvement in Patrick's arrest]

Tom : You destroyed him.

Marion : We destroyed each other.

Connections Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: This Movie was Shockingly Terrible - Best and Worst of TIFF 2022 (2022)
Soundtracks Memories Are Made of This Written by Rich Dehr (as Richard Dehr), Terry Gilkyson and Frank Miller Performed by Dean Martin Courtesy of Capitol Records, LLC Under licence from Universal Music Operations Ltd.

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour 53 minutes
Dolby Digital

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My policeman, common sense media reviewers.

British romantic drama has sex, nudity, homophobia, smoking.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Be honest with yourself and your feelings as this

Tom is a friendly policeman who tries to repress h

A gay romance is at the heart of the movie. The tw

A character is beaten up in prison with the sugges

Sex scenes involving partial nudity. Male nudity f

Language is rare and mild. Includes "bloody hell,"

Lots of smoking both in the 1950s and 1990s period

Positive Messages

Be honest with yourself and your feelings as this will help avoid hurting others and yourself. However, this lesson is learned the hard way in the film. Sometimes you need to let people go and live their own lives. Homophobia is shown by some.

Positive Role Models

Tom is a friendly policeman who tries to repress his sexuality. However, he soon begins a relationship with Patrick, a museum curator, who despite having to hide the fact that he is gay for fear of being arrested, is much more at ease with his sexuality. Despite this loving and intimate relationship, Tom marries Marion. The pressure of keeping this relationship secret occasionally causes Tom to behave cruelly toward Marion. Marion is a kind woman but becomes upset when she discovers her husband's affair and makes a decision that impacts all their lives, something she tries to make amends for in later life.

Diverse Representations

A gay romance is at the heart of the movie. The two characters involved are forced to hide that they are gay on account of it being against the law in 1950s England. However, one of the characters is a lot more at peace with his sexuality. A few instances of homophobia are displayed by both the police and within a prison. Outdated views about homosexuality and the need for women to get married and have children are expressed during the scenes set in the '50s. Nearly all the characters are White, with the exception of one minor character who is a person of color and also later shown to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Although the two main characters are male, there is a prominent female supporting role.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A character is beaten up in prison with the suggestion being it's because they are gay. The beating involves punches to the face and body and being kicked on the floor. Reference to a homophobic attack resulting in someone's death. A sexual encounter in an alley is broken up by two police officers who aggressively shove and kick someone on the floor. Character breaks a plate in frustration. Another is shown in poor health following a stroke.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sex scenes involving partial nudity. Male nudity from behind. A character performs oral sex on another although nothing explicit is shown. Characters are seen masturbating each other in public on more than one occasion. Discussions about love and sex.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is rare and mild. Includes "bloody hell," "God's sake," and "sexual pervert."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Lots of smoking both in the 1950s and 1990s periods. A character who is recovering from a stroke repeatedly demands a cigarette and is, on occasion, given one. Drinking -- beer, wine, and whiskey -- at restaurants and at home. A few instances of drunkenness including one character turning up at another's home intoxicated.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that My Policeman is a British romantic drama with a number of sex scenes, nudity, and smoking. The movie shifts between the 1950s and 1990s and is about the relationship between policeman Tom Burgess ( Harry Styles and Linus Roache ) and museum curator Patrick Hazelwood ( David Dawson and Rupert Everett ). During the '50s, the pair are shown having various sexual encounters including oral and penetrative sex, and masturbation. There is also male nudity from behind. Tom tries to repress his feelings and marries schoolteacher Marion ( Emma Corrin and Gina McKee ) lying to her about his sexuality. They too are shown having sex, though it's brief and non-graphic. Nearly all the characters smoke, especially in the '50s. During the '90s period, Patrick is recovering from a stroke but still demands his cigarettes. Characters drink on occasion and there are a few instances of drunkenness including Tom turning up at Patrick's flat drunk. Homophobic violence includes a character being beaten up in prison and there is reference to someone being killed in an attack. Based on a 2012 novel the film highlights some of the struggles the LGBTQ+ community faced in 1950s England. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

Parents say (1)
Kids say (7)

Based on 1 parent review

Truly amazing film!

What's the story.

In MY POLICEMAN, married couple Tom and Marion Burgess ( Linus Roache and Gina McKee ) are forced to face up to their past when old friend Patrick Hazelwood ( Rupert Everett ) moves in with them.

Is It Any Good?

Set in Brighton, England, and adapted from a 2012 novel of the same name, this romantic drama jumps back and forth between the 1950s and 1990s. At the heart of My Policeman is a gay love story and the struggles that homosexual men in particular faced both from society and the law in the not too distant past. In a series of prolonged flashbacks, pop star turned actor Harry Styles plays Tom Burgess, a policeman who falls in love with museum curator, Patrick Hazelwood ( David Dawson ). But at a time when being gay was illegal in the United Kingdom, the two hide their relationship and Tom marries Marion ( Emma Corrin ) instead.

The film does a good job of depicting the struggles that men like Tom and Patrick faced. The secrecy, the threat of violence and arrest, and the impact that all had on their well-being. However, the film suffers from a poor script and unfortunately Styles doesn't convince that his leap from pop stardom to silver screen will be a seamless one. With the likes of seasoned pros such as McKee and Everett -- who play the older versions of Marion and Patrick -- and the impressive Dawson, Styles' performance takes you out of the moment, which is to the detriment of the film.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how My Policeman portrayed sex ? Was it affectionate? Respectful? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.

Which character did you have most sympathy with and why?

Were you shocked to see how the LGBTQ+ community were treated in 1950s England? Do you think things have changed today and if so, in what ways?

How were drinking and smoking portrayed? Were there consequences? Why is that important?

How did the filmmakers use "flashbacks" to tell the story? What other movies have you seen that have used similar techniques?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 21, 2022
On DVD or streaming : November 4, 2022
Cast : Harry Styles , Emma Corrin , David Dawson
Director : Michael Grandage
Inclusion Information : Non-Binary actors, Queer actors, Gay writers
Studio : Amazon Prime Video
Genre : Romance
Run time : 113 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : sexual content
Last updated : December 1, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

‘My Policeman’ Review: Harry Styles’ LGBTQ Love-Triangle Tale Can’t Balance Time Periods

The film jumps back and forth between the 1950s and 1990s, but the two versions of the three characters never cohere

This review originally ran on September 11, 2022, for the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

A love triangle plays out over decades in Michael Grandage’s “My Policeman,” based on the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts, who was inspired by the 40-year relationship between English novelist E.M. Forster and policeman Bob Buckingham, as well Buckingham’s wife, May, who also became close with Forster. As described by Roberts in a 2012 essay in The Guardian, this quiet, proto-polyamorous situation was “a wonderful muddle,” which seemingly worked for all three participants in their own way.

The relationship at the center of “My Policeman,” isn’t so much wonderful as it is tragic. Instead of finding a happily unconventional comfort as Forster and the Buckinghams may have, the three individuals in “My Policeman” end up jealous, unsatisfied and oppressed, and the film explores the ways in which one might attempt to right decades of wrongs.

The film alternates between the inception of the relationship between Tom Burgess (Harry Styles), Marion Taylor (Emma Corrin) and Patrick Hazelwood (David Dawson) in 1950s Brighton, England, and the late 1990s, when Marion (Gina McKee) has invited the ailing Patrick (Rupert Everett), who is recovering from a stroke, to stay in the home she shares with her husband Tom (Linus Roache) in an English seaside village. It’s been many years since the trio were together, and tensions are high.

The novel is made up of Patrick’s diary (detailing his affair with Tom) and a confessional letter written by Marion decades later. In Natasha Tripney’s review of the book in The Guardian, she describes the Marion and Patrick points of view, saying that the “possessive note is the key to their tragedy and it’s telling that the man so desired by them both remains voiceless, distant.” That is not the case in Grandage’s film, adapted for the screen by Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia”), in which Tom is very much a real person but still feels “voiceless, distant,” a slippery, elusive character.

There is a gulf between the older Tom and the younger Tom in “My Policeman,” in both writing and performance, as there is with all of the younger and older characters in the film. Older Tom is bitter and taciturn, avoiding his wife by taking long walks on the sea wall with his dog. Roache’s Tom is a far cry from the soft, open youth played with a sense of innocence and naïveté by Styles, a beautiful, unknowable cipher unable to be possessed by either Marion or Patrick.

The marked difference between the two men over the course of 40 years signifies the ways in which the decades of enduring brutal homophobia have hardened Tom into someone brittle and abrasive, but there’s no connective tissue, performance-wise, between Styles and Roache. The rift feels so vast that at times it’s even hard to square that they are playing the same character.

The same goes for Patrick: Dawson’s Patrick is sleek and erudite, though caring, and in his later years, Everett’s version has evaporated any sense of politesse, even accounting for the fact that he is recovering from a stroke. Time and trauma have not been good to these men, but the writing doesn’t offer any solid characterization or sparks of recognition. There are no threads between the young men of this story and the older for the audience to grasp onto.

McKee and Corrin are the most alike in their portrayal of Marion, but she is also a troubling character who eludes our sympathy. As a young schoolteacher, she’s taken in by the beauty and charm of Tom, a friend of a friend. They begin a friendship, and he introduces her to a gallerist, Patrick, he met during a routine crime report. Marion is swept off her feet by Patrick’s knowledge, sophistication, tickets to recitals and nice dinners, and the trio form a fast friendship. When she spies a sketch of Tom in Patrick’s apartment, it’s a clue as to the true nature of their relationship, the details of which the older Marion discovers while reading Patrick’s diary.

Tom and Patrick are in love, conducting a secret, torrid affair, with Marion serving as Tom’s beard. The love scenes between the men are intense and passionate, a stark contrast to the pallid thrusting of Tom and Marion after they dutifully marry, because bachelors don’t get very far in the police department. Marion, who has thus far been happy to pal around with Patrick, becomes suspicious when he crashes their honeymoon, and it escalates when Patrick invites Tom to Venice to “assist” with bringing some art back to the gallery.

Though it’s Tom’s dishonesty that lights the match, Marion’s jealousy becomes the blaze that burns the whole thing down. Her efforts to repair things, forcing Tom and Patrick together at the end of their lives, seems too little too late, and as we switch back and forth between her youthful fear and misapprehension, and her later attempts at grace and reconciliation, it’s a challenge to understand her despite McKee’s wonderful performance.

Marion’s actions go beyond mere jealousy, resulting in incredible trauma. We are most consistently aligned with her point of view, even as we watch her essentially become a villain before our eyes. Yes, people change, but the narrative whipsawing between the mistakes made then and the attempts to fix it later doesn’t allow us to connect with either story. The 1990s framing device keeps pulling us out of the 1950s love story, sapping its power.

All six actors give singular performances (perhaps to the detriment of character consistency), but “My Policeman” is finely made, craft-wise. The 1950s setting is warmly detailed in the costumes and production design, the chill of their home years later expressing the pallor that’s fallen over the relationship. For relative acting newcomer Styles, the guileless and appealing young Tom is an ideal role, his sweet and vacant beauty offering a blank slate onto which Marion and Patrick can project whatever they want.

It’s just the troubling muddle of the script and direction that leaves one wanting much, much more from “My Policeman.”

“My Policeman” opens in U.S. theaters Oct. 21 and launches globally on Prime Video Nov. 4.

Action/Adventure
Children's/Family
Documentary/Reality
Amazon Prime Video

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘My Policeman’ on Amazon Prime Video, a Maudlin Drama That Gives Harry Styles a Wobbly Platform for his First Leading-Man Role

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Harry Styles enjoys his first leading-man role in My Policeman (now on Amazon Prime Video ), a period drama that tests his actorly mettle. Based on Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel , the film has been overshadowed a bit by the tabloidy fracas surrounding his previous movie, Don’t Worry Darling , helmed by his current S.O. Olivia Wilde – although those with an any-publicity-is-good-publicity philosophy would argue that it’s put a slightly brighter spotlight on a British queer romance that would’ve otherwise flown quietly under the radar. Either way, the critical onus is on Styles’ transition from pop star to serious actor, so the question is, can he convincingly play a married cop with a secret gay lover?

MY POLICEMAN : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The movie opens in the 1990s. The arrival of Patrick Hazlewood (an almost unrecognizable Rupert Everett) by a patient-transport van at the seaside home of Tom (Linus Roache) and Marion (Gina McKee) is a bone of contention between the married couple. Marion has set up an adjustable hospital bed for Patrick, who’s partially paralyzed by a stroke. The caretaker gives her the lowdown on Patrick’s medication, and warns her not to give in when he asks for a cigarette. Tom won’t talk to Patrick, and is angry that the man is even in his house. What gives?

Everyone was much happier 30-odd years ago. Or were they? They were definitely more innocent. It’s the late ’50s now. Marion (Emma Corrin) and Tom (Styles) meet on the beach, where he’s wearing a sweatervest like a good and proper Englishman. He agrees to give her swimming lessons, and she takes him to the library to broaden his literary horizons. He’s a policeman and she’s a teacher and they’re hitting it off nicely. He suggests a date at the art museum – Tom met the curator at the scene of a minor accident, so they’ll get a personal tour. That curator is Patrick (David Dawson), a sophisticated and well-read gentleman who has so much in common with Marion, but she’s in love with Tom, and that’s that.

Although it’s obviously not just that. Something had to have happened back then, or else Patrick wouldn’t be driving a wedge between retirement-age Tom and Marion. We jump between the two timelines as the dynamic among the three characters comes into focus: In the ’50s, Tom poses so Patrick may draw him (perhaps like one of his French men), and they end up tumbling into bed together; Marion remains in the dark even as Patrick toasts her and Tom at their wedding; we see sex with Marion and sex with Patrick, and there’s no doubt the latter is more satisfying for Tom. In the ’90s, Marion finds Patrick’s old diaries from back then and reads them, and I suggest you keep watching the film before you judge her apparent impropriety; Tom continues to be withdrawn and quietly upset. How did that line in that one movie go? I feel like I’m sitting on an atomic bomb, waiting for it to go off? It definitely applies here.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: My Policeman is like An Education crossed with Bros .

Performance Worth Watching: The maudlin screenplay does no one any favors, and renders Styles’ performance stiff and passionless – sorry, Harryeads. McKee is the standout here, and she works through the clunky framing device and a cringeworthy Big Climactic Scene with quiet dignity.

Memorable Dialogue: Patrick: “I can’t draw you if I don’t know who you are.”

Sex and Skin: Lots of man-butt in moderately graphic Tom-and-Patrick schtup scenes.

Will you stream or skip the British queer romance #MyPoliceman on @PrimeVideo ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) November 6, 2022

Our Take: Except period-British atomic bombs aren’t nearly as explosive as normal atomic bombs. Not that My Policeman fails to detonate; it just doesn’t knock you over and stomp on your heart like a good melodrama should. The story hinges on the irony of Tom’s being gay in his chosen profession during an era in which cops beat up and arrested gay men for “perversion,” but that’s where the compelling storytelling begins and ends. The film builds the usual oppressive society and drops “forbidden” love inside it, and hits all the usual beats: longing, repression, trauma, loss.

Ron Nyswaner’s screenplay is a conundrum – bland dialogue inspires flat line-readings, and it deftly intertwines the two timelines, nestling smaller, more intriguing plot revelations within the big, obvious, predictable ones. The characters are so thinly written, and instead of stimulating his cast to transcend the script, director Michael Grandage leans into the period detail, apparently more interested in wool jackets and quaint, cottagelike mid-century country homes than anything else. Empathetic viewers will feel involvement only on a base level – you know, love is love and prejudice is awful – but beyond that, the movie doesn’t offer much that’s fresh, complex or involving.

Our Call: The jury’s still out on Styles as a movie star – give him an incomplete for now. But it’s in for My Policeman : SKIP IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com .

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‘Monkey Man’ Review: Vengeance Is His

Dev Patel stars as Kid, a human punching bag who comes up with a plan to avenge a past wrong. The hits keep coming and the hero keeps taking them in this rapid-fire film.

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Set largely in a fictional city in India, “Monkey Man” stars Dev Patel as a character simply called Kid who, in classic film-adventure fashion, is out to avenge a past wrong. To do that, Kid, who works as a human punching bag in shadowy ring fights (Sharlto Copley plays the M.C.), must take repeat beatings so that he can, like all saviors, triumphantly rise. Before he does, he has to execute a complicated plan that pits him against power brokers working both sides of the law. As with most genre movies, you can guess how it all turns out for our hero.

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Kid’s half-baked plan involves an underworld operation with national political designs, and it takes him to one of those dens of inequity that movies love, filled with slinky women, thuggish men and lines of white powder that lead to corridors of power. As the story comes into blurry focus, Patel gestures at the real world and folds in some mythology, but these elements only create expectations for a complex story than never emerges. What mostly registers is an overarching sense of exploitation and desperation: Everyone is always hustling someone else. That gives the movie a provocative pessimism, one that Patel seems eager to counter with the flashbacks to Kid’s mother, Neela (Adithi Kalkunte), a saintly figure in chokingly tight close-up.

Patel, who directed the movie from a script written by him, Paul Angunawela and John Collee, is an appealing screen presence and you’re rooting for him — both as a character and as a filmmaker — right from the start. As an actor, he was built for empathy, with a slender frame and melting eyes that he can light up or expressively dim to create a sense of vulnerability. His performance in “Monkey Man” requires a lot from him below the neck — he has sculpted his body into stunt-ready shape, as a bit of striptease shows — but it’s his beseeching eyes that draw you to him. That’s especially crucial because while the messy story crams in a great deal — sad ladies, musclemen, brutal cops, exploited villagers, a false prophet and the Hindu god Hanuman, who appears as half-human, half-monkey — it never coheres.

Patel does some fine work in “Monkey Man” even if its fight sequences rarely pop, flow or impress; they’re energetic but uninspired. Far more striking is an extended sequence early in the story that begins with a thief on a scooter robbing a woman at an outdoor cafe. The bandit zooms off only to soon hand the pilfered item off to someone else who — as the camera hurries alongside each courier — rapidly snakes through the streets before passing the stolen object to another person (and so on) until the package finally lands in Kid’s hands. It’s a witty, flashy bit that announces Patel’s filmmaking ambitions and visually expresses how the story itself zigs and zags even as it hurtles forward.

That sequence — with its rush of bodies and scenery — also encapsulates one of the movie’s more frustrating flaws: its unrelenting, near-unmodulated narrative pace. For much of “Monkey Man” it’s just go, go, go . Rapid-fire editing is a feature, not a bug, in contemporary action movies, but even John Wick takes an occasional breather. (The “Wick” franchise is an obvious influence on “Monkey Man,” so much so there’s even an adorable dog.) When Kid does slow down midway it’s only because the character needs to heal, recalibrate his thinking and ready himself for the final showdown, which he does at a temple watched over by a towering statue and a welcoming group of hijras, who are referred to as India’s third gender .

It’s too bad that Kid doesn’t stay longer at the temple, where the company is charming and includes one of those wisdom-spouting elders, Alpha (Vipin Sharma, a sly scene-stealer), who guide heroes onto the right path. At the temple, Kid trains in time with a tabla maestro (Zakir Hussain) in a nicely syncopated interlude that makes you wish the musician had played throughout the movie to help with its pacing.

All too soon, though, Kid flexes his rested muscles and resumes his quest, racing ahead as Patel folds in flashbacks and vaguely waves a hand at the world that exists. By that point it’s clear that while Patel wants to say something about that world, however unclear, his character would be happier delivering beat downs in that magical, mystical land where John Wick and other violent screen fantasies live, fight and die in blissful unreality.

Monkey Man Rated R for, you know, violence. Running time: 2 hours 1 minute. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic for The Times. More about Manohla Dargis

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‘Sugar’ Gives You a Sweetly Hardboiled Colin Farrell and One Sour WTF Twist

By Alan Sepinwall

Alan Sepinwall

The most succinct piece of TV criticism I’ve read in the last decade was this 58-word tweet from Topher Florence:

The new Apple TV+ drama Sugar is an extreme case even by Surf Dracula standards, where it’s more like there was a show just called Surf Guy , and it took until late in the season to find out that our would-be surfer was, in fact, lord of the vampires.

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Based on everything we can see, Sugar is a pure-hearted hero. He consistently offers bad guys a peaceful way out of their messes, confident that he’ll always win if things turn violent — and afraid of the side of himself that’s so good at hurting others. He volunteers to pay for an unhoused man’s fare to go home to stay with the sister the man is too ashamed to call without prompting, and later takes in that man’s dog. When he inadvertently gets ex-rock star Melanie too blitzed to properly answer his questions, he makes sure to get her home safely, and to ignore her drunken advances. Ruby (Kirby), who manages his business affairs, is perpetually worried that Sugar is investing too emotionally into every case.

If Sugar seems to be good to be true, then… well, no. He really is that good. But he is also not just a saintly private detective, and it’s the other part that makes Sugar a lot messier to both discuss and watch.

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This is frustrating on several levels, not least of which is that the private eye pastiche stuff is very entertaining. Several episodes are directed by the great Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles ( City of God ), and he and Protosevich lean way into their influences. Sugar is a big film buff(*), particularly of the kind of Forties and Fifties noirs that the series is informed by, so his travels through modern-day Los Angeles are frequently interspersed with clips from Double Indemnity , Night of the Hunter , Kiss Me Deadly , Sweet Smell of Success , and more. It’s not a new device, though better known for being used by satires like Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid or the early HBO sitcom Dream On . It would be easy for this to make Sugar seem like a very poor imitator of Mike Hammer and company, or for the clips to feel like they are hitting the audience over the head with the point of various sequences. But they feel deployed just right, in large part because Colin Farrell’s performance is so charismatic and lived-in, it’s not hard to imagine him starring in a version of The Big Heat if he had been born back at the same time as Glenn Ford.

(*) Amusingly, he mentions loving L.A. Confidential at one point, never remarking on the fact that he’s currently working for a man who looks exactly like the villain of that movie.

For that matter, the show that Sugar turns out to be is interesting, too. It just completely undercuts what came before, while also arriving much too late to feel fully-formed when Protosevich decides it’s time to turn his cards face up. It also feels like a cheat, because the series is told from Sugar’s POV, complete with voiceover narration that in no way discusses [REDACTED] until after the audience has found out about it. Everything is presented this way entirely to pull the rug out from under viewers, but without nearly enough value gained from it. If we were watching things unfold through, say, Melanie’s eyes (Ryan is terrific, as are all the supporting players), and then [REDACTED] came out, that would have real weight. Ditto a version of the story where Sugar somehow didn’t know about [REDACTED], and we learned it at the same time he did.

This is just trickeration for its own sake, and it’s counter-productive and annoying. The resolution of the mystery becomes an afterthought, while the reality of what Sugar is doesn’t get enough room to fully get up to speed. The two concepts could work together very well, with this star, this ensemble, and this much care given to the look and feel of the world. But they have to be allowed to co-exist, rather than one being held in reserve for weeks and weeks, all in favor of a one-shot burst of WTF.

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Just let Dracula surf, guys. Please. People want to see the show you are trying to make, not an endless warm-up for that show.

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NC State vs Purdue live stream: Can you watch for free?

Seeking to become the first ever 11 seed to advance to the national championship, NC State takes on Zach Edey and No. 1 seed Purdue today at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

Is There a Free NC State vs Purdue Live Stream?

Other ways to watch the nc state vs purdue live stream, watch the nc state vs purdue live stream from abroad.

Either way, it’s going to be the first title game in a very long time for someone, as Purdue hasn’t been in a national final since 1969, while the Wolfpack haven’t been there since their Cinderella run to a championship in 1983.

This Final Four game is about to start, at 6:09 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on TBS in the United States. But if you don’t have cable and want to watch March Madness online, we have a number of different ways you can watch a live stream of Purdue vs NC State for free or cheap.

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There are two live-TV streaming services that include TBS and come with a free trial: YouTube TV (“Base Plan”) and DirecTV Stream (“Entertainment” package or above).

Both of these will let you watch for five days before you either cancel or pay for your first month. That means that if you sign up for one of them, you can watch both Final Four games today and Monday’s national championship (all three games are on TBS), then cancel your subscription without needing to pay anything.

Another free option is the March Madness Live app or website, which streams every game of the tournament. Note that you’ll eventually need to sign in with a cable provider to watch this way, but if you’ve never watched anything on here before, you’ll get to stream unrestricted for three hours before you have to sign in. That should be more than enough time to at least watch Purdue vs NC State without a cable log-in.

If you’ve exhausted all of your free trials, there are some pretty cheap live-stream options, too.

Both Final Four games and the national championships will stream live on Max, which costs just $10 per month. With this option, you’ll also be able to watch any NBA on TNT game, so that’s a nice added bonus with the playoffs coming up in a couple of weeks.

An underrated option is Sling TV ‘s “Sling Orange” channel package. It includes both TBS and ESPN, and it’ll run you just $20 for your first month ($40 per month after that). That means that if you take free trials out of the equation, this is far and away the cheapest way to watch both the men’s (TBS) and women’s (ESPN) Final Four and national championship.

If you’re in a country with no way to watch Purdue vs NC State, you can combine a virtual private network (VPN) with one of the aforementioned streaming services. All of those services are restricted by location to US-only, but a VPN can get you around those restrictions by hiding your IP address and connecting you digitally to a server in the United States.

There are plenty of good VPN’s you can choose from, but NordVPN is our top choice. It’s fast, reliable and works with YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling and Max. It doesn’t come with a free trial, but you can still try it out risk-free thanks to their 30-day money-back guarantee.

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With a Top 4 spot still within reach, Roma welcome Lazio to Stadio Olimpico for another edition of the Rome Derby today. It's always thoroughly compelling when these rivals square off, and this one--especially considering each side's current place on the Serie A table--should be no different.

The match is about to start, at 12:00 p.m. ET, and in the United States it steams exclusively on Paramount+. Despite that exclusivity, though, there are actually three different ways you can watch a live stream of the match. Is There a Free Roma vs Lazio Live Stream?

We're down to the Final Four teams of the 2024 March Madness Tournament. NC State has delivered the biggest surprise of the season, making it all the way to the Final Four as an 11-seed. They'll be taking on Purdue, a 1-seed team from the beginning. UConn has seemed unstoppable, but Alabama has pulled some surprise wins themselves.

Both Final Four games will be aired on TBS, TNT, and TruTV, as well as some additional streaming options. Purdue vs NC State is on Saturday, April 6 at 6:09 p.m. ET. UConn vs Alabama will start right after, at 9:20 p.m. ET. Here are all your options for live streaming the Final Four without cable. Is There a Free March Madness Live Stream?

In a crucial matchup that will go a long way in determining the final play-in spot in the West, the Golden State Warriors head to the Toyota Center to take on the Houston Rockets tonight.

The game is tipping off very soon, at 8:00 p.m. ET. If you live in-market, it will be televised on NBC Sports Bay Area (in Warriors markets) or Space City Home Network (Rockets markets). If you're out of market, it won't be televised anywhere. Still, no matter where you are in the US, there are plenty of ways you can watch a free live stream of this huge game. Is There a Free Warriors vs Rockets Live Stream?

Vidhu Vinod Chopra Talks Bollywood Sleeper Hit ’12th Fail,’ Plans China Release: ‘In Every Market Where There Is Struggle, the Film Will Do Well’ (EXCLUSIVE)

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For veteran Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra , his latest film “ 12th Fail ” is the gift that keeps on giving.

Based on the 2019 book of the same name by Anurag Pathak, the film tells the true story of Manoj Kumar Sharma who conquered extreme familial poverty to pass one of the world’s toughest examination processes and become an Indian Police Service officer.

The film struck a chord with audiences and has grossed $8.5 million to date, more than three times its budget. “Each film has its own God, and it’s always a mystery what that God does for that movie. So it’ll always remain a mystery to me as to why it did as well as it did,” Chopra told Variety . “For me, all I can say is perhaps because it’s an honest film, made with honesty and it propagates honesty… and in today’s world, honesty is really in short, short supply. So, perhaps because of that, it connected with so many people, but frankly I don’t have an answer for it. It’ll always remain a mystery.”

“12th Fail” also gave Bollywood filmmakers hope that smaller films with a focus on story rather than spectacle could work at the box office, something that was mostly limited to films hailing from the south of India. The film bowed on streamer Disney+ Hotstar in India and worldwide excluding India on Netflix in late December 2023 and on Sony’s Indian television channels in February 2024. In January 2024, it won best film, director, screenplay and editing at India’s Filmfare Awards, with Massey winning the critics’ award for best actor.

A directing graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India, Chopra won acclaim for his student short “Murder at Monkey Hill” (1976). His next short, “An Encounter With Faces” (1976), was Oscar nominated in the documentary short subject category. He adapted “Murder at Monkey Hill” as his feature debut “Sazaye Maut” (1981). Highlights of his directorial career include “Khamosh” (1985), “Parinda” (1989), “1942: A Love Story” (1994) and “Mission Kashmir” (2000).

Chopra is also an enormously successful producer with credits including “Munna Bhai MBBS” (2003), “Parineeta” (2005), “Lage Raho Munna Bhai” (2006) and “Sanju” (2018). His “3 Idiots” (2009) and “PK” (2014), in addition to being blockbusters in India, were hits in China as well.

Plans are afoot to release “12th Fail” in China. In January, the film played at the first edition of Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, spearheaded by veteran film festival curator and director Marco Mueller.

“We are releasing in China in a big way this year,” Chopra said. “I was invited to Macau by Marco Mueller for the Asia-Europe Young Cinema film festival. We had a standing ovation in China. And for me that was very gratifying. There were Hindi dialogues, and I of course couldn’t read the subtitles in Chinese. But the way people were clapping, the audience’s reaction was incredible. I have no doubt that this film will do very well. Not only in China, but in every market where there is struggle… where, like in the movie, there is a big government job that you can get through exams and then that changes your life. Where that one exam changes your life forever. Wherever that is… of course in China, in Korea… wherever that is, the film will do very well, because the people will relate to the struggle of the protagonist.” The China distributor has not been revealed yet.

Chopra is currently working on three projects. “I’m just going to make movies all my life till I’m alive, and hopefully those movies will find their place everywhere, in cinema halls, on streaming platforms, wherever. I’m not interested in the business of cinema. I’ve never been,” Chopra said. “It’s a contradiction because I’ve made some of the biggest hits in India, but for me cinema is such fun. And I’m not highly educated, I wasn’t fortunate enough to go to Stanford, like my daughter. So I just want to keep making movies till I can. I’m 71. I’m hoping to continue making movies till I’m 100 years old. My inspiration in that is of course Clint Eastwood. But that’s all I want to do. Make movies.”

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My Policeman movie review & film summary (2022)
My Policeman
Movie review: My Policeman
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My Policeman movie review: The consequences of living a double life

COMMENTS

My Policeman movie review & film summary (2022)
Instead, "My Policeman" finds smoother ground in the present-day scenes with a trio of older actors who can elevate a script. Make no mistake, the prime culprit in this soporific film is a terrible screenplay that tells a gay love story through the elderly Marion, a straight cis-woman, adopting Patrick's memories by reading his diaries.
My Policeman
Movie Info. A beautifully crafted story of forbidden love and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows three young people -- policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin ...
'My Policeman' Review: Two Love Affairs, Equally Tragic
The melodrama "My Policeman" tells a decades-long story of a schoolteacher, a museum curator and the man they both love. The film is based on a novel of the same name, which took narrative ...
'My Policeman' Review: Harry Styles' Love Triangle
The movie is adapted from Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel of the same name, which fictionalized the real-life relationship between novelist E.M. Forster, his police officer lover, and the policeman ...
'My Policeman' review: Harry Styles carries the day
Harry Styles, from left, Emma Corrin and David Dawson in the movie "My Policeman.". "My Policeman" is an absorbing, resonant, deeply wistful adaptation of the 2012 novel by Bethan Roberts ...
My Policeman
Full Review | Oct 4, 2023. Anna Miller Discussing Film. My Policeman has the potential to tell an intriguing story about self-acceptance, the freedom of love, and overcoming odds in a time when ...
My Policeman review
Movies. This article is more than 1 year old. Review. My Policeman review - poignant tale of a love triangle inspired by EM Forster's own. This article is more than 1 year old.
'My Policeman' Review: Harry Styles' Polite Love Triangle Drama
Inspired by the private life of 'Maurice' writer E.M. Forster, overly tasteful 1950s English romance 'My Policeman' stars Styles, Emma Corrin and David Dawson as hearts torn by an awkward arangement.
My Policeman review: Harry Styles stars in a lush but limited romance
My Policeman is a movie set in both 1957 and the late 1990s, based on a novel first published ten years ago. But when one of your featured actors is the biggest pop star in the world in 2022 ...
'My Policeman' Review: Harry Styles and Emma Corrin Bring Minimal Heat
My Policeman. The Bottom Line Wish I was wild about Harry. Venue: Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations) Release date: Friday, Oct. 21 (Nov. 4, Amazon Prime) Cast: Harry Styles, Emma Corrin ...
My Policeman Review: Conventional Drama Is Still Emotionally Effective
Published Sep 18, 2022. It could have dug a lot deeper into its story & characters but while the love triangle drama is conventional, it will resonate with audiences. Directed by Michael Grandage from a screenplay by Ron Nyswaner, My Policeman, adapted from the book by Bethan Roberts, is a story filled with pain, heartbreak, and regret.
My Policeman
My Policeman follows three young people - policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin), and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson)- as they embark on an emotional journey in 1950s Britain. Flashing forward to the 1990s, Tom (Linus Roache), Marion (Gina McKee), and Patrick (Rupert Everett) are still reeling with longing and regret, but now they have one last chance to repair ...
My Policeman review
B righton, the late 1950s. Dashing young policeman Tom (Harry Styles) and his girlfriend, Marion (Emma Corrin), strike up a friendship with Patrick, a suave museum curator (David Dawson).
My Policeman (2022) Movie Review
For the most part, My Policeman is a gripping movie, despite the occasionally slow pace, and there are moments when it is absolutely heartbreaking. A scene involving Patrick being arrested for his homosexuality is particularly upsetting but there are other sequences which are likely to pull at your heartstrings, especially if you can relate to ...
My Policeman review: an introspective, static drama
My Policeman is a stately, often overly repressed adaptation of Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel of the same name. The film has all the necessary ingredients to be another respectably dignified — if ...
My Policeman
Movie Review. Marion Burgess knows her husband, Tom, has homosexual tendencies. After all, she caught him and their good friend Patrick in an intimate moment just two days after she married him back in the 1950s. ... My Policeman seems more focused on the sexual aspects of the story.
My Policeman (2022)
My Policeman: Directed by Michael Grandage. With Gina McKee, Linus Roache, Rupert Everett, Harry Styles. The arrival of Patrick into Marion and Tom's home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previously.
My Policeman Movie Review
Includes "bloody hell," Parents need to know that My Policeman is a British romantic drama with a number of sex scenes, nudity, and smoking. The movie shifts between the 1950s and 1990s and is about the relationship between policeman Tom Burgess (Harry Styles and Linus Roache) and museum curator Patrick Hazelwood (David Dawson and….
'My Policeman' Review: Harry Styles' LGBTQ Love-Triangle Tale Can't
November 4, 2022 @ 9:57 AM. This review originally ran on September 11, 2022, for the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. A love triangle plays out over decades in ...
My Policeman (film)
My Policeman is a 2022 American romantic drama film based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Bethan Roberts and directed by Michael Grandage.The film stars Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson, and Rupert Everett.It is inspired by the relationship between the writer E.M. Forster and Bob Buckingham.. My Policeman had its world premiere at the Toronto ...
My Policeman Review: Love Story Captivates and Devastates
Their attempts to accept things lost play out in lengthy flashbacks that chronicle the tempestuous love triangle that took place 40 years prior. Once its action sets into motion, the film becomes ...
'My Policeman' Amazon Prime Video Review: Stream It or Skip It?
Harry Styles enjoys his first leading-man role in My Policeman (now on Amazon Prime Video), a period drama that tests his actorly mettle.Based on Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel, the film has been ...
'World's Greatest Sandwich' from the Movie 'Spanglish', Recipe and
To prepare this delectable sandwich, start by putting a cooling rack inside a baking sheet and arranging the bacon on top. Bake at 350° until crisp, which should take about 15 minutes. You can ...
'Monkey Man' Review: Vengeance Is His
Set largely in a fictional city in India, "Monkey Man" stars Dev Patel as a character simply called Kid who, in classic film-adventure fashion, is out to avenge a past wrong. To do that, Kid ...
'Sugar' Review: Colin Farrell's Hardboiled Show Has One Sour WTF Twist
The Oscar-nominated actor plays an old-fashioned private detective chasing down a missing woman in L.A. — until an 'Oh noir, you didn't!' left turn spoils everything.
NC State vs Purdue live stream: Can you watch for free?
Other Ways to Watch the NC State vs Purdue Live Stream. Max / Max. If you've exhausted all of your free trials, there are some pretty cheap live-stream options, too. Both Final Four games and ...
'Sugar' review: Colin Farrell plays an old-style detective in a twisty
Breathing strange new life into an old genre, "Sugar" makes connections to the detective movies of the 1940s and '50s, casting Colin Farrell as a modern private eye.
'Mary & George' review: Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine mix sex
Sporting a gleefully descriptive promo line in "Lust. For Power," "Mary & George" joins "Dangerous Liaisons" as a costume drama where sex serves as a weapon of war.
'Scoop' review: A Netflix movie digs into the BBC's Prince Andrew
"Scoop" juggles so many timely balls it's a bit of a shame the film doesn't accomplish that task with more dexterity. Part of that has to do with its somewhat limited origins, based as it ...
Vidhu Vinod Chopra Talks Bollywood Hit '12th Fail,' China Release
Plans are afoot to release "12th Fail" in China. In January, the film played at the first edition of Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, spearheaded by veteran film festival ...

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