The recent fan favorite, Harry Styles has appeared on the big screen twice in the last couple of months. He played Jack Chambers in the thriller Don’t Worry Darling alongside Florence Pugh who played his wife. He also starred in My Policeman as Officer Tom Burgess. 

The widely known pop star, Styles, started off in the well-known boy band One Direction, and after they split, became a solo musician and changed his whole narrative. More recently, Styles has been cast in multiple films. 

In the highly anticipated Don’t Worry Darling released Sept. 23, 2022, Styles plays Jack Chambers, a successful businessman who lives with his wife, Alice, (Pugh). They live in an ideal 1950s neighborhood where they are a part of an experiment called the Victory Project where they get to live in a true utopia for their time. Keeping up with the time period, the wives stayed home, cooked, cleaned, and took care of their children. Meanwhile, the men went and worked, but the wives never really knew what they did. Alice, Jack’s wife, goes on a journey to find out what her husband does every day while he keeps her in the dark. She uncovers many secrets about her husband and the other men in her neighborhood.

The main theme in Don’t Worry Darling is the secrecy of the lives that these neighbors live. Jack keeps Alice in the dark and dodges every question about his work. This creates some tension between the characters and their personal relationships. Their perfect life begins to shatter and twist into a mind-boggling story. 

There are some obvious gender stereotypes within the film. Like most films or media based on the 1950s and 60s, the men go to work and the women stay home. That is what everyone is used to at this point. However, seeing a powerful, young actress take on the role of the protagonist in unwinding the mystery is refreshing. Also, when Alice shows passion or  emotion in the film, she is perceived as a “crazy” woman by those around her. The movie subtly calls out the typical gender stereotypes within many works from or based on the time period.  

The psychological thriller is truly a masterpiece of emotions. The entire film is very suspenseful and distressing as the happiness of the characters is fleeting throughout the film. 

Similarly, My Policeman released Oct. 21, 2022 (Nov. 4 on Prime Video), follows the story of a young police officer who falls in love with a young school teacher, Marion. The couple befriends a museum worker, Patrick who soon becomes Tom’s lover. The movie is based on a novel written by Bethan Roberts. The film follows the lives of the three characters and focuses on the secrecy of the two men while living in 1950s England. The plot is explained in memories from when all three characters are older and Patrick has suffered a tragic stroke. While Don’t Worry Darling is more of a thriller/ drama film, My Policeman features a truly heart-wrenching story. 

With such a beloved star actor, seeing the representation of homosexual characters especially played by big stars is tremendously important for society to keep on normalizing. Through the casting of such an iconic pop star, Harry Styles took on a significant role in My Policeman. People that look up to Styles can see him in two totally different types of films this year. It is amazing for Styles to play a homosexual character. The film did feature scenes of violence against gay characters however. Nonetheless, it is dire for members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community to all be fully represented in films and other media. 

Harry Styles is relatively new to the acting world and has done a pretty satisfying job in both of his two roles. Don’t Worry Darling has a star rating of 3.3 from viewers while My Policeman has a 4.6 star rating. Both movies have been extremely successful as Don’t Worry Darling rakes in around $78.2 million in box-office sales and My Policeman brings in many streams online. 

The two films have been great successes so far. Hopefully viewers will see the infamous Harry Styles in some more films soon.