Plainclothes

It’s 1996 and Lucas (Tom Blyth, The Hunger Games) is cruising in a California shopping mall. But once he’s captured the attention of another man, it’s a bait and switch: Lucas is an undercover cop, and he’s entrapping men in the name of ‘public protection’. Lucas is increasingly conflicted, as he realises his vocation is also avocation, falling for potential arrest Andrew (Russell Tovey). Realising they both have secrets to hold, this profound intimacy begins to spark dangerous truths on all sides.

A showcase for some of the UK’s best actors, Plainclothes is a trip back to a time not so long ago, but shockingly hard to imagine for its distance in advances in LGBT rights. Gripping and tense, as well as full of touching and hard-won intimacy, Plainclothes is a terrific debut.