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.

Tom Blyth, of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes fame, is starring in a new gay romantic thriller about cops called Plainclothes. Directed by Carmen Emmi, Plainclothes sees Blyth playing Lucas, a working-class undercover police officer who is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men for public indecency in 90s Syracuse,

Exploring deep emotions and complex relationships, Tovey stars in the Sundance drama "Plainclothes," portraying an undercover cop romantically entangled with his target.

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).

With gay rights coming back into the crosshairs in almost every country across the globe, Carmen Emmi’s slow-burn drama is sobering reminder of just how far these things have progressed in the past 30 years.

Plainclothes actor Russell Tovey tells TheWrap he wished his 1990s-set movie was "stuck in that time in history," but its themes still resonate.

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.