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REVIEW: Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth Are Closeted and Dangerous in Seductive '90s Era Thriller 'Plainclothes'

REVIEW: Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth Are Closeted and Dangerous in Seductive ’90s Era Thriller ‘Plainclothes’

Director Carmen Emmi’s police drama takes Sundance by storm and sees an undercover agent uncomfortable in his own skin as he falls for the man he’s tasked with arresting…

Shopping malls and food courts. Pagers in the age of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Public bathrooms used for gay hookups with the threat of AIDS running rampant. This was the 1990s, folks.

Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival, Plainclothes presents rookie police officer Lucas (Tom Blyth), assisting in the apprehension of gay men for public indecency and sexual activity as just part of his day. Having lost his father and the only person his widowed mother can count on, Lucas is seen as a promising recruit for a police force hellbent on catching would-be criminals as they operate in the shadows within plain sight of families and the general public. But what happens when Lucas realizes how much he’s denied himself the pleasure of connecting with the same sex?

Yes, Lucas is a closeted gay man living in a time when a homophobic police force is cracking down on sex in public spaces, often male targets who hide their sexuality from wives and others in their personal lives. Those around Lucas, including his ex-girlfriend, have inklings about his identity. It just takes Lucas a little time to figure it out for himself.

What stirs the pot and Lucas’s loins is a new target named Andrew (“Looking” star Russell Tovey), a man he notices in the local mall while on the job. Something about Andrew makes Lucas question his duties as a cop, and when the two men quietly meet in the mall bathroom for what is sure to be Lucas’s next bust, the rookie lets his new target go. Thus starts a sexual affair that cannot be denied and one that fuels Lucas to rethink his feelings towards men in a romantic manner.

Plainclothes disguises itself as an erotic ’90s thriller, using a strobe-light-infused filmmaking style to set the tone. Director Carmen Emmi focuses on Lucas and his struggles to come out while hiding who he is, even from the man he is newly infatuated with. Flashbacks to childhood intertwined with the anxiety that everyone knows his secrets (when, in fact, no one truly does) make for a chaotic climax for Lucas when he discovers Andrew’s true identity.

The film isn’t as dignified as Tovey’s breakout in “Looking,” though the heartthrob hasn’t changed much in terms of proving his sexual dynamics onscreen since the former series ended its run nearly a decade ago. Plainclothes is eerily similar to the 1980 Al Pacino controversial film, “Cruising,” as it opens its audience up to a world that most straight people couldn’t dare understand even in the Grindr/hookup perspective of 2025. Social cues that only gay people might be familiar with including slight glances with a stranger from across the room that linger just a hint too long, engaging in eye contact through a bathroom mirror above a urinal, and anything to identify an interested party without the assistance of a hookup app that tells you they are, in fact, interested.

But equally representative in Plainclothes is the stark reality that closeted gay men exhibit on a typical day: paranoia to the max. The two men central to this film have other lives they don’t convey to one another, mainly because they struggle with coming out due to the assumption they might lose those they love in their “real world.” But Lucas catches feelings for Andrew that he never expected to in his wildest dreams, but are those feelings reciprocated…and can they realistically be reciprocated in a society that looks more dangerous than accepting?

Plainclothes doesn’t have all the answers, but it demonstrates Blyth’s and Tovey’s onscreen charisma and acting prowess. Both characters are immersed in a sexual thriller that belongs squarely in the 1990s, with a sharp essence in style brought by Carmen Emmi. It’s a dramatic turn for Tovey in particular, and it’s a delight to see the British actor in a leading performance of this caliber.

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