Set in Syracuse, New York, in the mid ‘90s, Carmen Emmi’s debut feature revolves around a young cop assigned to a sting operation that forces him to confront his sexuality.

The smoldering chemistry between the two is palpable, and Blyth is especially good as a young man wrestling with his identity. Plainclothes, though, is not strictly a coming-out movie, it’s a relatable story about infatuation and heartbreak, most of it communicated with painfully raw emotion by these star-crossed lovers’ eyes.

"I don't think you can pigeonhole queer characters because there's billions of these stories to tell." - Russell Tovey

The film, which marks the feature debut of Carmen Emmi, follows an undercover officer (Blyth) who is assigned to lure and arrest gay men. His life gets turned upside down when he falls for a target (Tovey).

Exclusive: Blyth plays an undercover cop harboring a secret attraction to men (including especially Tovey) in Carmen Emmi's uneasy queer thriller.

Tom Blyth and Russel Tovey star alongside each other in a new, steamy queer thriller, Plainclothes. Directed by Carmen Emmi, the psychodrama follows the story of Lucas (Blyth) as an undercover police officer who’s assigned to seduce gay men and arrest them for indecent behaviour.

Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey are fantastic together in, 'Plainclothes,' a familiar but fantastically executed coming out tale

Writer-director Carmen Emmi's debut feature starts off shaky, and overuses lo-fi VHS footage but there's no denying the film's raw emotion.