Set in 1997, Carmen Emmi’s Plainclothes explores a world too many people are familiar with, one rife with fear, secrecy, and shame. Lucas (Tom Blyth) is an undercover cop whose job is to lure in and arrest gay men. Though he is good at his job, there is a reason why: Lucas is gay himself.

Emmi’s story utilizes a unique and fascinating mix of visual mediums. Spliced through with glimpses of Lucas’s POV as grainy handheld footage, it adds a grounding touch that sets the viewer directly in that decade. Its home video-esque quality is a layer of tension that is unexpected but effective. There’s a surreal feeling to it, almost like a sort of nostalgia.

Lucas has been adept at hiding his urges and even manages to mitigate them for the most part. It’s an all-too-familiar feeling for anybody in the queer community who grew up in those eras. However, once he meets a target called Andrew (Russell Tovey), things begin to change for Lucas.

Unable to go through with the arrest, Lucas instead meets Andrew again on his own terms. The two are polar opposites, with Andrew being the cool, experienced one and Lucas being nervous, ready to snap at any time. Because of this, they play off of each other well. Tovey holds Andrew with such distant restraint, and Blyth manages to convey an eager sort of nervousness with Lucas. He is so afraid all the time of his mom–or anybody else–finding out that he’s gay, but Andrew is who gives him the courage to accept that part of himself a little bit more.

Romance and identity and its effect

Plainclothes moves back and forth from the past to the present, a New Year’s Eve party at Lucas’s mother’s house. There, things are fine for everybody but Lucas, whose paranoia is beginning to make him spiral. He is still thinking about Andrew, and it’s making him fear that it’s too obvious what has happened. Make no mistake that this film is a thriller as much as it is a romance. Its explorations of the themes of toxic masculinity on identity are as prescient as ever, and Emmi pulls no punches. The inclusion of Lucas’s uncle (played by Gabe Fazio) is a great example. There is no mistaking the way Lucas’s shoulders tense every time his uncle is around and just exactly how much he’s been impacted by him growing up.

Blyth and Tovey also have excellent chemistry. They are both adept actors at portraying emotions with looks, and much of this film relies on how quietly Lucas falls for Andrew. He has finally let himself go, and he’s letting himself dive headfirst. Emmi rounds their story out with so much gentle desire it nearly pulses off the screen. Even in its steamier moments, the viewer is drawn into something that almost feels too intimate, as if we are unwitting voyeurs.

Plainclothes is one of those films that sticks with you long after the credits roll, and is one that gets mentally revisited every so often. For a directorial debut, Emmi has certainly made his mark.

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