Plainclothes

Lucas (Tom Blyth, Hunger Games) is a Syracuse, New York cop in the mid 1990s. Young, single, good looking, he’s assigned to undercover work, baiting homosexuals in the washroom of a mall. It’s essentially entrapment, but so long as he seduces with his eyes, not his voice, the arrests will hold up. There is a complication. Lucas suspects he may be gay. And an encounter with an older man, Andrew (Russell Tovey), confirms it. But even Andrew has his secrets…

Winner of the Prize for Ensemble Cast at Sundance, Carmen Emmi’s debut feature film is a sympathetic excursion into that soul-destroying period when staying in the closet felt like the least bad option for many homosexuals. (That some politicians are trying to turn back the clock ensures the story feels relevant.) Emmi switches between different film and video formats to amp up the sense of paranoia while the terrific performances from Blyth and Tovey keep this one focused.

A moving story told with sensitivity and beautifully acted by the two leads.

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

The smoldering chemistry between the two is palpable, and Blyth is especially good as a young man wrestling with his identity. Plainclothes, though, is not strictly a coming-out movie, it’s a relatable story about infatuation and heartbreak.

Damon Wise, Deadline Hollywood