Love, Guilt, Desire, Duty, – these are the fault lines that run beneath Plainclothes, the powerful Sundance award–winning thriller written and directed by Carmen Emmi.
Set against the bleak winter backdrop of 1990s Syracuse, Plainclothes exposes a little-known chapter of queer history with raw honesty and empathy. Following Lucas (Tom Blyth), a young, promising police officer, he is assigned to an undercover sting operation designed to entrap gay men in public restrooms. A cruel system built on shame and manipulation, Lucas participates unquestioningly.
However, a chance encounter with Andrew (Russell Tovey), one of his supposed targets, changes everything. What begins as another assignment becomes a tender, forbidden connection that threatens to upend both men’s lives.
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As Lucas’s sense of duty collides with his awakening desire, Plainclothes builds toward a devastating New Year’s Eve reckoning that lays bare the cost of denial, repression, and misplaced loyalty. And beyond its suspenseful premise, Emmi’s film is a meditation on identity, morality, and the emotional aftermath of state-sanctioned homophobia.
Plainclothes is now playing in theaters, and Instinct recently caught up with Blyth and Tovey to talk more about it. The starring duo open up about what drew them to this story, how much they knew about the real history of police entrapment before joining the film, and the sense of responsibility they felt in portraying a narrative that continues to resonate deeply within the LGBTQ+ community.
We also caught up with Emmi, who reflects on the personal and historical inspiration behind Plainclothes, why Blyth and Tovey were the ideal casting choices to bring this narrative to life, and the vital conversations the film raises about law enforcement’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community, both then and now.
Check out the full video interviews below.
