Magnolia Secures Global Rights to ‘Plainclothes’, Scored by Emily Wells

Deadline broke the news today that Magnolia Pictures has acquired global rights to the Sundance-winning film Plainclothes, scored by Emily Wells and directed by Carmen Emmi. The feature thriller, starring Tom Blythe and Russell Tovey, won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast when it world premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and also stars Maria Dizzia, Christian Cooke, Gabe Fazio, and Amy Forsyth. Magnolia Pictures has planned for a fall 2025 theatrical release.

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). 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 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. (Source: Deadline)

The movie is presented by Lorton Entertainment & Page1 Entertainment, produced by Colby Cote, Arthur Landon, Eric Podwall and Vanessa Pantley. 

Congratulations to Emily, Carmen, and the whole cast and crew! We can’t wait for everyone to see the film and hear Emily’s score and original song in theaters this fall!