THE STORY – A promising undercover agent assigned to lure and arrest gay men defies professional orders when he falls in love with a target.
THE CAST – Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia, Christian Cooke, Amy Forsyth & John Bedford Lloyd
THE TEAM – Carmen Emmi (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 95 Minutes
Throughout Carmen Emmi’s debut feature, “Plainclothes,” grainy VHS footage fades in and out, accentuating key moments. These moments have a dream-like quality: intimate, nostalgic, and hazy. They bring us right into the headspace of our main character, Lucas (Tom Blyth, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes“), as he wrestles with himself and with who he’s “supposed” to be. Rarely does a first-time director showcase such a strong sense of his characters, using style not as a vein or flashy choice but as a perfect way to illustrate a character’s struggle. “Plainclothes” is an audacious directorial debut for Emmi.
Set in 1997, “Plainclothes” follows Lucas, an undercover police officer. Is he on the prowl for violent criminals? Or inside a drug cartel? No, he’s on the job to spot gay men at the mall in the hopes of entrapping them, luring these men into a bathroom, only to have them arrested if they expose themselves. This horrific practice of preying on closeted gay men is legal as long as Lucas follows strict rules. No talking. No going into a stall. No touching. His eyes calmly search across a mall food court, looking for willing, hopeful eyes to meet his. Lucas is good at his job, much to his chagrin. His big secret: he’s also closeted, making these clandestine encounters confusing and painful. Naturally, the day comes when Lucas just can’t follow the rules. As he spots his next victim, portrayed by Russell Tovey (“Looking”), he’s drawn in, much more so than with previous perps. After their rule-breaking encounter in the bathroom, he calls off the operation and begins to spark a secretive connection with the man, Andrew.
Blyth delivers his best and most mature performance to date. He fills the character with a palpable, painful desire. It’s a deep longing to be genuinely touched and loved. Andrew is seemingly the first man he has had a genuine connection with, though “love” may be out of reach. Like Lucas, Andrew is closeted and married, though he seems more adept at meeting in secret than Lucas. Is Andrew a villainous presence, a needed guide, or simply a first love? Both characters are written with incredible depth, not letting either man fall neatly into a cliched category. Their performances, tinged with sadness and fear, are accentuated by the VHS flourishes. These quiet moments bring the audience inside Lucas’s mind, seeing things from his perspective, often letting us feel trapped or lonely right alongside him.
Seeing someone so isolated, tasked with entrapping men just like him, standing in direct contrast to who he is, is dark. And seeing him yearn for connection is gut-wrenching.
Despite beautiful character work, the plot itself falls into a relatively formulaic third act. Lucas has challenging conversations with his ex-girlfriend (Amy Forsyth) and fears what his identity would do to his mother (Maria Dizzia). The film’s first half is full of emotional subtlety and internal struggles before devolving into a standard family drama and explosive revelations, with a third-act fight scene being particularly ridiculous. Emmi’s writing navigates real and necessary moments men like Lucas have experienced, so they aren’t without truth. Still, the story loses the nuance that makes the film’s early sections so exquisite.
Even so, Emmi’s dynamic direction and Blyth’s performance more than make up for any faults in his script. Emmi has such a distinct eye for capturing emotion, a perfect match for a timely story. Set fewer than 30 years ago, this is a sad reminder of how recent persecution like this was. In a time when attacks on queer people have ramped up across the country, “Plainclothes” is a complex film about the pain of this isolation and oppression.
