The beauty in a tragic love triangle is explored in Prime Video’s adaptation of Bethan Roberts’ award-winning novel My Policeman – and it is certainly set up to be an awards season contender.
Directed by Michael Grandage from an adaptation written by Ron Nyswaner, My Policeman may be a dramatic love story, but it comes out at a time when changing social conventions are being challenged. The story follows 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, we see older versions of Tom (Linus Roache), Marion (Gina McKee), and Patrick (Rupert Everett) and their lives have changed, but they are still reeling with longing and regret as they reunite under unfortunate circumstances.
As they come together, they are forced to repair the damage of the past that resulted from a forbidden love triangle which is sparked between Patrick and Tom as Marion remains in the dark.
Debuting on Prime Video November 4 (you can currently watch in theaters), My Policeman may take place in the past, but its queer narrative is relevant to today’s LGBTQ landscape.
“I hope that it inspires conversations about how recent that was and also how fragile our world is now that we live in,” Emma Corrin told GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos in a recent interview. “A lot of the stuff that’s going down now in the United States — all that shit with queer literature and the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills, the gay ban — these are very real things that people are living through and that’s not to mention there are places in the world where people still cannot live authentically so I hope that it inspires those conversations.”
David Dawson told Ramos that he hopes we’re living at the beginning of a very exciting time where queer representation in TV and film. “If I was a young lad, watching It’s a Sin, Heartstopper, Pose, My Policeman — it would have had a great impact on me as a young person.”
He continued, “There’s so many more people now for young people to find inspiring regardless of whether you’re queer or not — especially in Britain — who are incredibly talented and eloquent like Tom Daly, Nicola Adams, Paris Lees – there [are] lot of people to celebrate.”
Corrin added, “It’s about representation and seeing people who you can relate to and seeing experiences that you can relate to on screen. I feel like as a kid I was always looking for myself in film and TV.”
For Corrin, fiction allowed her to live in imaginary places like magic kingdoms where binaries like that don’t exist. “I think that it’s nice that we now have films like this,” she added. “It’s such a gift for people to be able to turn on Netflix and be confronted with people that they recognize themselves in and who they can learn from and see their experiences reflected at them which is so powerful. “
Director Michael Grandage had a very personal connection to the film. He was born into the 1950s England that is portrayed at the beginning of My Policeman. Like in many places of the world, it was a time in England where the LGBTQ community was discriminated against and threatened.
Although the laws have changed, Grandage points out that the prejudice has stayed the same. “I am proud to be a part of a community that has made incredible advancements in the 40 years but I do feel like it’s quite fragile at the moment,” he told Ramos. “If I’m being honest, [with] the Roe vs. Wade verdict in America, we know that that’s led to some justices saying let’s now turn to gay marriage. We know that gay marriage is on the agenda here in the UK in some quarters. I just feel it’s vulnerable again and that’s a very personal journey for me in that respect.”
Grandage really hopes that many young people watch the film – and with Corrin and Styles’ fanbases, he thinks a lot of young people will watch.
“For me, the young are the least prejudice generation ever born at this point and I want them to see what it was like living in a time where you couldn’t be who you were… you went to jail for being yourself, and I want them to become ambassadors for never going back there and keeping moving forward,” said Grandage. “That is a big part of making this movie. You don’t want to play this movie to just a few people, you want to play it to as many people as possible and have it be a part of the bigger debate.”