20 Most Overlooked Movies Of 2025
5. Plainclothes
Though widely praised since its Sundance premiere, Carmen Emmi's feature debut Plainclothes earned less than $250,000 at the box office and has failed to garner much in the way of sustained awards buzz.
Tom Blyth is fantastic as Lucas, an undercover police officer who entraps gay men in 1990s New York, and yet who becomes increasingly drawn to one of his targets, Andrew (Russell Tovey).
An unexpected fusion of thriller and romance, Plainclothes is a devastating examination of sexual repression and the forces which have historically conspired to persecute gay men.
The interplay between Blyth and Tovey is superb, each so beautifully selling the crushing anxiety of keeping their true selves hidden.
It's also gorgeously shot and edited, bouncing between 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios as it shifts back and forth among time periods, while canny use of VHS-esque video to depict Lucas' memories evokes the period setting in tactile fashion.