Plainclothes

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Plainclothes

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1h 35m

Drama

Romance

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

LGBTQ+

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Popcornmeter

87%

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60 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

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.

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Critics Consensus

This tension-filled coming out story marks a welcome debut for director Carmen Emmi, whose Plainclothes showcases the perils of love and the effects of isolation.

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Bob Mondello

NPR

Lucas' self-loathing and panic are persuasively of their time, and the story, which could as easily have been set in the 1950s, can't help but seem a cautionary tale for the world we find ourselves in today.

Sep 24, 2025

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Chris Azzopardi

New York Times

Writer-director Carmen Emmi’s evocative debut relies on a nostalgically textured aesthetic that sometimes seems to mask its thin narrative, the heat builds in unexpected ways, ultimately igniting through the quiet agony of living as someone you’re not.

Sep 19, 2025

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Carlos Aguilar

RogerEbert.com

‘Plainclothes’ feels seductively alive when Lucas and Andrew are alone together—either under the warm lights of the movie theater, where their shadows betray them, or as their hands touch the other’s body inside a lonely greenhouse. I

Rated: 3/4

Sep 19, 2025

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John Paul King

Washington Blade

It’s a small film, and one that feels even more intimate than its smallness might suggest, but that’s part of its winning strength.

Sep 25, 2025

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Andrew Parker

The Gate

Emmi gets under the viewer’s skin, burrows straight through the body, and leaves a mark with his exceptional examination of a closeted man coming apart at the seams.

Rated: 7/10

Sep 25, 2025

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Abbie Bernstein

Assignment X

Not a definitive look at a young man at a work/life crossroads. However, as a study of the nature of romance and attraction, it is highly impactful.

Rated: B

Sep 22, 2025

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Jesús Alberto Alcocer Morales M

Ame esta película!!!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

09/23/25

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Stephen C

Success for pride in 1 hour and 35 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All ages admitted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dubbed and subtitled in worldwide studios!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/19/25

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Carmen Emmi

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Tom Blyth

Lucas

Russell Tovey

Andrew

Maria Dizzia

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Christian Cooke

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Plainclothes: Trailer 1

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Plainclothes: Teaser

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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.

Director: Carmen Emmi
Producer: Colby Cote, Arthur Landon, Eric Podwall, Vanessa Pantley
Screenwriter: Carmen Emmi
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Podwall Entertainment, Lorton Entertainment, Page 1 Entertainment, Mini Productions
Genre: Drama, Romance, Mystery & Thriller, Crime, LGBTQ+
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 19, 2025, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.6K
Runtime: 1h 35m