Plainclothes is a 2025 American romantic thriller drama film directed by Carmen Emmi and starring Russell Tovey, Tom Blyth, Amy Forsyth, Christian Cooke, Maria Dizzia, and John Bedford Lloyd.
The film had its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2025, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on September 19, 2025.
Synopsis
At his mother’s New Year’s Eve party Lucas, a young police officer, loses a letter no one was ever meant to read. Amid the backdrop of the suffocating family party, the search for the letter unlocks memories of a past he’s tried to forget: months earlier, while working undercover in a mall bathroom, Lucas arrested men by seducing them. But when he encounters Andrew, everything changes. What begins as another setup becomes something far more electric and intimate. As their secret connection deepens and police pressure to deliver arrests intensifies, Lucas finds himself torn between duty and desire. With time running out and his past closing in, PLAINCLOTHES builds toward a New Year’s Eve reckoning where everything he’s buried threatens to erupt.
Cast
Russell Tovey as Andrew
Tom Blyth as Lucas
Amy Forsyth as Emily
Christian Cooke as Ron
Maria Dizzia as Marie
John Bedford Lloyd as Lt. Sollars
Gabe Fazio as Uncle Paul
Sam Asa Brownstein as Christian
Darius Fraser as Jeff
Production
The film marks the feature length directorial debut for Carmen Emmi, who also scripted the film. It is produced by Arthur Landon, Colby Cote and Eric Podwall for Page 1 Entertainment and the London-based Lorton Entertainment.
Russell Tovey and Tom Blyth were confirmed in the lead roles in March 2024. That month, Amy Forsyth and Christian Cooke also joined the cast, as well as Maria Dizzia, John Bedford Lloyd and Gabe Fazio. The film’s score is by Emily Wells.
Filming began in Syracuse, New York in March 2024.
Release and Reception
Plainclothes premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2025. In April 2025, Magnolia Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film. The film will have a limited theatrical release in the United States on September 19, 2025.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 38 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 65 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.
The film won the Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival
Press Quotes
“A relatable story about infatuation and heartbreak, most of it communicated with painfully raw emotion by these star-crossed lovers’ eyes.”
Deadline
“A moving story told with sensitivity and beautifully acted by the two leads.”
The Hollywood Reporter
“The degree to which [Emmi] successfully re-creates the atmosphere – as well as the uncertainty and paranoia – of that time rather remarkable.”
Variety
