Movie review
October 20, 2022 · 113 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
My Policeman is a 2022 period romantic drama that follows a closeted gay policeman in 1950s Brighton who begins a secret affair with a museum curator, marries a schoolteacher to maintain appearances under criminalized homosexuality laws, and lives with decades of betrayal and regret when the past collides with the present in the 1990s. The film structures its narrative around dual timelines and a love triangle driven entirely by the central gay relationship and the personal destruction caused by era-specific repression. Queer romance, intimate scenes between the male leads, and themes of identity-based persecution form the visible core of the story with no modern lectures overlaid.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for My Policeman.
Woke representation / casting
Casting fits the 1950s British period setting, character ages, and closeted-cop dynamics with no visible forced diversity, race swaps, or story-world mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
No modern activist language, identity-politics jargon, or contemporary institutional critiques; all dialogue stays personal and era-specific around fear, secrecy, and love.
Identity-driven story themes
The gay romantic and sexual relationship between the two male leads is the absolute central engine of every plot turn, emotional arc, and timeline shift, with constant prominent visibility.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Shows 1950s British laws, police, courts, and social norms as destructive to gay lives and forcing false marriages, presented strictly as historical fact without reframing into modern activist messaging about current patriarchy or Western institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; direct adaptation of a 2012 original novel with no alterations to famous canon or legacy characters.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Anti-woke reaction exists but stays niche and limited to conservative outlets and scattered social media labeling it LGBT-focused or martyrdom-style; no widespread mainstream backlash or propaganda accusations dominate coverage.
Creator track record context
Writer Ron Nyswaner and producers Greg Berlanti and Robbie Rogers have clear, repeated histories of LGBTQ+-centric and gay-rights-themed projects; director Grandage brings personal stake but less prior activist output.
Production
