Plainclothes

The LGBTQ+ community has made remarkable strides in terms of acceptance over the past five decades, a far cry from the conditions that were in place years ago. However, despite this progress, community members from various personal backgrounds and those working in certain professions have struggled with their comfort levels when it comes to being open about themselves. They have been unable or unwilling to step forward to profess their true natures to a world that has steadily become more understanding (even if theres still work to be done in this area, as has become painfully apparent of late). Such are the conditions faced by Lucas (Tom Blyth), an undercover cop assigned to arrest (some would say entrap) gay men who cruise public spaces (...

Following the murder of two young girls who refused to give their killer oral sex, the authorities decide that this is a reasonable excuse to clamp down on cottaging in the gents toilets of a mall. Thats where officer Lucas (Tom Blyth) is put to work. Hes the handsome lure to attract gentlemen into unzipping when they probably wished they hadnt, before they are led away in handcuffs for prosecution. Then one shift, he encounters the slightly less obvious Andrew (Russell Tovey) who doesnt fall for the trap, and who slightly enthrals the young man. Indeed as the story goes on we realise that Lucas has a secret of his own and that what he wants from Andrew might fly in the face of his professional obligations. Of course, in his way Andrew is n...

The opening of this film, of a young man cruising in a mall, quickly establishes the setting and decade and set me on edge whether or not I thought this film was going to "do something." The movie is shot on film and in a 4:3 ratio, interspersed with footage recorded on other kinds of film and camerasthe effect is disorienting.

From the start, there is a sense of surveillance, communicated through both the main character's eyessearching for marks, looking in mirrors, matching gazesand that interspersed footage which feels like a recording in a way the "normal" footage of the film doesn't. This looking (between characters and the audience at other clips) quickly is shown to also be a fear of surveillance for the main character. The fil...