Danielle Valente
You've already heard all about Don't Worry Darling: drama onset and off, the #Spitgate scandal, the Miss Flo and Chris Pine memes, the eagle-eyed focus on Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde's relationship. And while much has been made about the pop star's new movie, it's not the only buzzy film he's got hitting theaters this fall: meet My Policeman.
Based on the LGBTQ+ romance novel of the same name, My Policeman has been in the pipeline for eight years, but originally, the "Watermelon Sugar" singer was not on the producers' radar. It was actually his interest in the role that eventually landed Styles the gig.
"He had read the script so many times that he knew every single beat of it at that meeting," director Michael Grandage told Vanity Fair. "He knew other people’s lines; he knew all of his lines. He knew why he wanted to talk about it, why one scene worked this way and another worked another way."
We've got a few weeks until My Policeman premieres, so in the meantime, let's see what this other Harry Styles movie is all about.
What is 'My Policeman,' Harry Styles' new movie, about?
My Policeman takes place in the 50s in a world where being gay is not legal, which is particularly challenging for Tom Burgess (Styles). Between his career as a police officer, where he's expected to uphold the law, and his feelings towards Patrick Hazelwood (David Dawson), a museum curator, things are tricky.
Matters of the heart become even trickier when he attempts to mold himself into the "norm" and marries a school teacher, Marion (The Crown's Emma Corrin), which, of course, does not end well. My Policeman flip-flops between time periods, between the start of Marion and Tom's marriage and decades later when they're attempting to pick up the pieces and let Patrick into their lives after a stroke.
When is the 'My Policeman' release date?
My Policeman will be released in theaters in the US and the UK on Friday, October 21. It will be available to stream worldwide on Friday, November 4.
Watch the 'My Policeman' trailer:
Amazon released an official trailer for My Policeman on Wednesday, September 7. If a sneak peek at the retro forbidden love story didn't get you misty-eyed, the song choice surely will: Cat Power's aching cover of "Sea of Love."
Who is in the 'My Policeman' cast?
- Harry Styles as young Tom Burgess
- David Dawson as young Patrick Hazelwood
- Emma Corrin as young Marion Taylor
- Linus Roache as older Tom Burgess
- Rupert Everett as older Patrick Hazelwood
- Gina McKee as older Marion Taylor
Is 'My Policeman' a book?
Yes, the film was adapted from Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel of the same name, with a script by Ron Nyswaner.
One of the film's producers, Robbie Rogers, recounted to Vanity Fair how the romance novel shook his world when he first read it: “It was kind of like my coming-out book...I really think the book found me." After passing the book on to his now-husband, fellow producer Greg Berlanti, they decided to adapt the page-turner into a movie.
