Plainclothes 👏, dir. Carmen Emmi, 2025, USA, 95 min.
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 5:30 pm Vogue Theatre
⚠️ content advisory: homophobia, police entrapment
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| Plainclothes photo by Ethan Palmer courtesy of Sundance Institute |
Frameline blurb: Lucas (Tom Blyth), a closeted undercover cop, falls for a married man (Russell Tovey) he’s assigned to entrap in Carmen Emmi’s ’90s-set erotic drama Plainclothes. Initially focused on his duty to arrest men cruising in shopping mall bathrooms, his mission takes an unexpected turn after a charged encounter with one of his marks. What begins as a sting operation becomes intimate and volatile, blurring the lines between secrecy and desire, watcher and watched.
Raised in the shadow of his grandfather’s badge and working in a homophobic department, Lucas starts to crack under the weight of his messy feelings. Editor Erik Vogt-Nilsen’s jagged, VHS-warped style, threaded with haunting flashbacks, mirrors Lucas’s fraying mind, each grain pulsing with anxiety and self-doubt. Plainclothes simmers with urgency, its story of repression and control striking a nerve in a time when queer visibility and freedom are once again under threat.
Film Queen commentary: In 2025, LGBTQ+ rights and our very existence are under threat in ways that bring 1997 uncomfortably to mind. There are hints at redemption for some of the characters as the film winds down, but don’t expect a classic Hollywood happy ending. Plainclothes is a strongly told story, filled with pathos and inner conflict, but well worth seeing. (Besides that, Tom Blyth as Lucas, the undercover cop, is gorgeous, with piercing green eyes.) Highly recommended.
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