Sundance Film Festival Review: ‘Plainclothes’ Never Lets Up On Its Intensity

When you hear the log-line for Plainclothes, fear of a mockable melodrama that a comedy would parody is palpable. Especially as a Sundance Film Festival title, it’s almost a joke that writes itself. Luckily, this movie is not that, so fears of a train wreck are unfounded. Unfortunately, it’s also not what it could be at its best, resulting in a decent title that can’t quite pull it all together. It’s somewhere between middle of the road and lower tier for the fest in 2025.

Plainclothes tries to do too much, burying the things that work under an avalanche of things that either don’t work or are mixed bags. The main issue? It’s just too damn intense, even when it doesn’t need to be. It’s too much of one note, which hurts the romantic longing you’re also supposed to feel, leading to a hollower feeling than intended.

Lucas (Tom Blyth) is a promising undercover cop in 1990’s Syracuse with a very intense assignment. He’s been assigned to lure and arrest gay men in a local shopping mall. Once he picks them up and they expose themselves in the bathroom, they’re arrested. Lucas is very good at his job, too, which helps to shield the fact that he is, in fact, gay.

When Lucas falls in love with one of his marks, Andrew (Russell Tovey), he’s defying police orders, while struggling to address what’s in his heart. As that situation unfolds, we also see him some time later at a family gathering, where the weight of everything has reached a breaking point for him, with major consequences.

Star Tom Blyth handles the material well, never crumbling under the intensity required for the role. Even when things aren’t coming together, he’s still rock-solid. There’s a sense of intensity and longing shared in the scenes with Russell Tovey that Blyth elevates. Tovey is a good as well, we just focus far more on Blyth, as you might imagine.Supporting players include Christian Cooke, Maria Dizzia, Amy Forsyth, and John Bedford Lloyd, but it’s Blyth’s show.

Filmmaker Carmen Emmi tries to do too much with Plainclothes, but it’s a noble effort, regardless. One just wishes that the writing and direction eased up to observe more of the situation, as opposed to the intensity of the situation. Emmi has talent and finds the version of the movie you’d rather see, it just has a few too many flaws to latch on to fully.

Plainclothes is fine, all in all. If you can squint and lean in on the romantic intensity, it’s more successful than the more thriller aspects. Still, it’s a muddied mix, so you never quite get the full potential of the film. We can be thrilled that it’s better than the bad Sundance movie it could have been, but it’s not up to snuff, otherwise.

SCORE: ★★1/2