READ MORE: “Twinless” Review: Dylan O’Brien has the range in this funny and twisty dramedy [Sundance] The object of Emmi’s cinematic affection is Lucas (Tom Blyth), a twentysomething police officer trying to make it through a suburban existence in upstate New York. Syracuse, NY, specifically. His current assignment? Hanging out at the local indoor mall, assigned to a solicitation sting ring with a brazen and overly macho colleague Ron(Christin Cooke). Lucas is closeted and battles anxiety and guilt over ensnaring men who believe the attraction he’s instructed to tease is mutual. When he makes eyes with Andrew (Russell Tovey) in the shopping center, he feels a connection to a potential arrest victim he hasn’t felt before. After a short encounter in the restroom, he breaks it off and walks out signaling to Ron nothing happened. He’s never felt something like this before and is completely unprepared to handle it. Andrew still passes along his phone number and, eventually, Lucas finds the courage to call it. To be frank, beyond serving as a narrative mechanism for Lucas to confront his feelings and meet Andrew, the sting storyline is the least interesting aspect of “Plainclothes.” What sparks is the incredible chemistry between the lead actors and how Lucas’ increasing stress over his family and, more importantly, his mother Maria (Maria Dizzla) finding out is portrayed on screen. Lucas is convinced he will break his mother’s heart if he tells her the truth about his sexuality. He even had a live-in girlfriend (Amy Forsyth), hoping to provide her with the grandchildren she so desperately wants. Notably, this is where “Plainclothes” adds its imprint on the coming-out genre. Throughout the picture, Emmi, cinematographer Ethan Palmer, and editor Erik Vogt-Nilsen have mixed contemporary digital camerawork with footage shot on a Hi8 video camera. At first, it feels a bit too much like a gimmick, but as the story unfolds Vogt-Nilsen impressively cuts to just the right shot – rarely lingering on it – to either make you sympathize with Lucas’ internal struggle or remind you just how long ago these events took place. Period movies of this era are often hard to pull off. The clothes are either too out there like they were pulled from a music video or filmmakers fixate on the loud aspects of the era (newsflash: cars were boring and for most of the decade most people shopped at The Gap or Banana Republic). Emmi and his wardrobe team thankfully don’t overdo it with Lucas or Andrew’s apparel, but the forgotten use of pagers is spot-on. Emmi’s screenplay also inspires by including a twist of identity that unfolds in a frantic and captivating sequence on New Year’s Eve. The conflict between Lucas’ homophobic Uncle Paul (Gabe Fazio) and his mother, may seem gratuitous at first, but Emmi makes sure it pays off when it counts. This entire portion of the movie wracks up the tension bit by bit. So much so, that you’re not entirely sure where it’s going. Considering the familiar family quarrel setup, it’s one of the most welcome surprises in the movie (and Tovey’s character is nowhere to be found).