A debut film for writer-director Carmen Emmi, Plainclothes (2025) stars Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia and Gabe Fazio. Plainclothes is a stripped-down film when it comes to dialogue.

Once the main players are established, though, and experimental flashes of harsh analog video become a more recognizable manifestation of its ugly-beautiful aesthetic, Plainclothes builds to a ...