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Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey set Sundance drama Plainclothes on fire

Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey set Sundance drama Plainclothes on fire

Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in Plainclothes
Lorton Entertainment

Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in 'Plainclothes.'

Read our Sundance review of this debut feature from writer-director Carmen Emmi.

Editor's note: This review contains spoilers for Plainclothes, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Plainclothes is a searingly intense drama about sexuality, anxiety, and the cost of accepting — and disclosing — your truth.

Writer-director Carmen Emmi makes his feature debut with a movie about a young plainclothes police officer in the 1990s named Lucas, who is tasked with frequenting gay cruising spots to lure and arrest gay men trying to have sex with him.

Lucas, played perfectly by The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes breakout star Tom Blyth, was recruited for this specific task due to his youthful and attractive appearance. As his literal job, Lucas spends his days at a local mall making eye contact with men, leading them into the bathroom, signaling that he wants them to take their pants off, and then tipping his partner to arrest them.

One day, Lucas targets a man named Andrew (played by Russell Tovey in his daddiest role ever). When they get to the bathroom, however, Andrew's gentle approach manages to surprise and seduce Lucas, who storms out of the bathroom feeling unable to complete his job.

It doesn't take long for Lucas to find himself unable to stop thinking about Andrew. When the two men meet up again, Lucas tells Andrew that his name is Gus (which is actually his late father's name) while falling hard and fast for the sexy, rugged, and gentle Andrew.

Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in PlainclothesTom Blyth and Russell Tovey in 'Plainclothes.'Lorton Entertainment

As these urges and emotions overwhelm him, Lucas also becomes more paranoid that everyone around him is about to find out his big secret. The sense of anxiety inside Lucas only gets worse, which makes it harder and harder for him to hide his identity.

Between work pressures and sexual urges, Lucas's family life somehow becomes an even more significant source of stress in his world. Namely, his family only knows how to fight and communicate through yelling, his father recently died, his uncle is mooching off his mother, and everyone expects him to get married to a nice girl with whom he will have kids.

The film comes to a head at the family New Year's party when Lucas's uncle finds a letter addressed to a man named "Gus" from a man named "Andrew." Logically, the uncle thinks that the letter was for Lucas' father, Gus, and decides to show that letter to Lucas's mother — "outing" his late father as a queer man who had an affair with someone named Gus.

Through these circumstances, Lucas must choose to reveal a hard truth about himself or let his family believe a lie about his father. Blyth's brilliant performance makes Lucas's anxiety feel palpable. Even moviegoers who have never experienced the fear of being outed can dial into that nuanced anxiety, get a taste of what it's like to be closeted, and sense the terrorizing agony of not knowing if you're about to lose it all.


Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey in PlainclothesTom Blyth and Russell Tovey in 'Plainclothes.'Lorton Entertainment

I'm always wary of a movie about a gay cop, as casting queer characters as police officers has often been used as a way to make them more palatable for straight audiences. However, Plainclothes upended my expectations in that area, showing just how violent and life-ruining the police are, and always have been, for queer people.

Lucas is shown feeling nervous and conflicted about his work from the very beginning of the movie. After meeting Andrew, however, Lucas can no longer distinguish between the random men they're supposed to be arresting and the man that he loves. As a result, the character reaches a point where he can no longer go through with arresting these queer men — now armed with the knowledge that what he's doing is just wrong. Thus, instead of continuing his pursuit of being a "good cop," Lucas decides to quit.

Plainclothes is searing, caustic, and electric, which makes the anxiety-inducing scenes feel very intense — like sitting on a bed of nails. This pulsating vibration also intensifies the sex scenes in the movie, and sets them ablaze. Many scenes cut quickly between real life and lo-fi VHS-like footage of Lucas and the world around him, emphasizing that he feels like he's being surveilled and constantly watched.

Carmen Emmi has a wonderful debut feature on his hands. Four out of five stars.

Plainclothes premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025 and is expected to have a wider release later this year.

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Mey Rude

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.