EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey thriller Plainclothes from filmmaker Carmen Emmi.
Emmi’s directorial debut is set in 1990s Syracuse and follows a promising undercover officer (Blyth) who is assigned to lure and arrest gay men. He defies orders when he falls in love with a target (Tovey). The movie won the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast when it world-premiered at Sundance, and also stars Maria Dizzia, Christian Cooke, Gabe Fazio, and Amy Forsyth. A fall theatrical release is planned. Magnify will represent international sales in Cannes.
At his mother’s New Year’s Eve party Lucas, a young police officer, loses a letter no one was ever meant to read. Amid the backdrop of the suffocating family party, the search for the letter unlocks memories of a past he’s tried to forget: months earlier, while working undercover in a mall bathroom, Lucas arrested men by seducing them. But when he encounters Andrew, everything changes. What begins as another setup becomes something far more electric and intimate. As their secret connection deepens and police pressure to deliver arrests intensifies, Lucas finds himself torn between duty and desire. With time running out and his past closing in, the movie builds toward a New Year’s Eve reckoning where everything he’s buried threatens to erupt.
“Plainclothes is a true revelation,” said Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley. “Tom Blyth is a knockout and director Carmen Emmi is a major new talent behind the camera.”
“I’m so grateful to Magnolia for believing in our project and for always championing independent movies,” said director Carmen Emmi. “Plainclothes was made with a lot of love in my hometown, Syracuse, NY. It’s an honor to be able to share it in theaters this fall.”
The movie is presented by Lorton Entertainment & Page1 Entertainment, produced by Colby Cote, Arthur Landon, Eric Podwall, and Vanessa Pantley.
The deal was negotiated by SVP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden with WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers.