DUNKIRK
Styles made his feature film debut in Christopher Nolan's war film Dunkirk, in July 2017, playing a British soldier named Alex in the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. He appeared alongside an ensemble cast which included Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy. Styles won the part over "thousands of young men"; Nolan later admitted he was unaware of the extent of Styles' fame and that he was cast "because he fit the part wonderfully and truly earned a seat at the table". The Daily Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin praised Styles for his "bright, convicted, and unexpectedly not-at-all-jarring performance".
DON'T WORRY DARLING
Styles starred alongside Florence Pugh in the 2022 psychological thriller film Don't Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde. Having premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, the film, as well as his performance, received mixed reviews. Steph Green, writing for the BBC, noted, "Harry Styles doesn't feel up to the material here, with leaden line delivery and a lack of light and shade making his scenes opposite Pugh fall flat", but some were more positive of his performance, with Owen Gleiberman writing, "With his popping eyes, floppy shock of hair, and saturnine suaveness, he recalls the young Frank Sinatra as an actor".
MY POLICEMAN
Also in 2022, Styles starred alongside Emma Corrin in My Policeman, a film adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. At the 2022 TIFF Tribute Awards, the main cast of the film were awarded the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance.
