Young love. It’s a beautiful thing, but what happens when that love is forbidden? “My Policeman,” starring Harry Styles, Gina McKee and David Dawson explore this concept in this heartbreakingly beautiful story of love, lies, and forgiveness.
We meet Marion (McKee) greeting a new houseguest who is wheelchair-bound. Their connection is unclear, but we know she will be this man’s caretaker as her husband, Tom (Linus Roache) is unnerved by it. This man who has suffered a stroke rendering him all but mute, and with him, he brings a box, all that remains from his life’s work. Marion opens it slowly, as if she knows what it might contain…detailed and eloquent diaries from a life all but forgotten. We are then transported back to post WWII Britain, the younger versions of these characters living life filled with potential.
The relationship of this triad comes into focus, but the honesty of their love for one another isn’t immediately evident. Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, screenwriter Ron Nyswaner carefully and masterfully explores each of the character’s lives and how they intersect, revealing only enough information to create multiple scenarios in our minds.
This is Marion’s story, seen through her eyes, as she grapples with her own decisions which ultimately created the consequences she lives today. Initially, a young, innocent schoolteacher wanting the simple things in life, her choices have long-term consequences many of which are made clearer as she reads the difficult words handwritten on the dusty pages of the journal. It’s a heart-wrenching image of an unforgiving era.
McKee’s understated performances brilliantly portrays the myriad emotions of life’s regrets. McKee allows her character to find a strength and new kind of love gradually coming to the forefront. The film’s only flaw is that McKee doesn’t garner enough screen time. Styles and Dawson also shine as two young men battling their own intrinsic demons.
“My Policeman” is gorgeously set, but it’s the story and evocative yet subdued performances that capture and break your heart.
3 1/2