Director Michael Grandage's My Policeman adapts Bethan Roberts' 2012 novel of the same title, telling a captivating love story set in 1950s England. The film stars Harry Styles as Tom, a policeman, David Dawson as Patrick, an art collector, and Emma Corrin as Marion, a schoolteacher. The three find themselves entangled in a love triangle, as Patrick and Tom's secret love affair clashes with the closeted policeman's commitment to Marion.

The majority of the film's events take place at a time when homosexuality was criminalized in the U.K., though the narrative occasionally flashes forward to the 1990s, where viewers see older versions of Marion (Gina McKee), Tom (Linus Roache), and Patrick (Rupert Everett). According to the film's director, My Policeman's poignant and authentic spotlight on LGBTQ+ history serves as a powerful reminder of the past.

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In an interview with Screen Rant, Grandage described how My Policeman speaks to him and commented on the cast members' stellar performances.

Director On My Policeman

my policeman
Harry Styles and Emma Corrin in My Policeman

Screen Rant: My Policeman was a novel before it was a film. What did you love most about this story, what were your goals for adapting it to the screen?

Michael Grandage: I think the thing that appealed to me most is the idea that I could bring some sort of personal voice beyond just the director's voice of making a movie. I was born into an England where the law was as it was at the beginning of this film, I'm afraid to say. I grew up as a young boy before the law was changed. After the law was changed, there was at least a generation of prejudice to have to deal with. I'm very proud of being part of a community that has made incredible advances over the last 40 years to a place inconceivable when I was a boy thinking about gay marriage and other things that now we take for granted in the U.K. and the U.S. I do also feel that for the first time in my life, it's slightly fragile. I think there are all sorts of shifts that mean we could easily return to that period if we're not careful.

I loved the idea, when I read the script, of being able to make a film that may just contribute to the debate about where we are now. That can only happen really if we get a lot of young people to see the film because the young generations, for me, are the most unprejudiced of all generations ever born, and if they can become ambassadors for why we need to keep moving forward and never return to the world where you aren't free to be yourself, then I think that will be a powerful piece of advocacy that I will be very proud if My Policeman even contributed to it in the tiniest possible way.

You had a fantastic cast to work with — especially David, Harry, and Emma, who are at the center of most of the film’s main events. What are your thoughts on how the three of them fleshed out the dynamics between Patrick, Tom, and Marion?

Michael Grandage: I agree. It could have all not worked if the three of them didn't get on and didn't bring so much to the project themselves. David, I've worked with many times before, and I knew he was this amazing collaborator and would be great working with Harry and Emma. Harry came originally to me. We didn't reach out to him at all. He came saying that he read the script that had been circulated within his agency, and they said that he was very interested in this being part of his evolution as a screen actor. When I met him, it was very clear he understood Tom and very clear he could bring something to that role, similarly with Emma. I would be extraordinarily understanding of how they wanted to be part of the message of the film, as well as playing the characters within the film and what they could bring.

I was very blessed by having those three younger actors lead that. Then, when we added three older actors to them because we were shooting them at the very end of the film, that was quite an easy process as well. It's very rare — usually a director is in a room trying to convince an actor to be in a film. So, it's lovely to be in a room where the actor is telling you why they want to be in the film. It's unusual and very welcome.

About My Policeman

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

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), 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 the damage of the past. Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, director Michael Grandage carves a visually transporting, heart-stopping portrait of three people caught up in the shifting tides of history, liberty, and forgiveness.

Check out our other My Policeman interviews here:

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My Policeman opens in theaters on October 21 and releases on Prime Video on November 4.