Clayface

OVERVIEW

The DCU’s first foray into Gotham comes in the form of Clayface, a Batman-free, R-rated body-horror take on one of his most obscure and underappreciated villains. It follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a young Hollywood actor who has just received his first Oscar nomination, whose good looks draw the attention of many around him, including Mia Torrez (Joana Ribeiro), the girlfriend of crime boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik). When Szabo catches them together, he brutally disfigures Matt’s face, effectively destroying his promising career. Desperate to regain his appearance, Matt turns to Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), whose experimental treatment miraculously restores his face, but with increasingly disturbing side effects.

BACKGROUND

First introduced in DC Comics in 1940, Clayface has gone through several incarnations, but the film draws most directly from the excellent two-part episode “Feat of Clay” from Batman: The Animated Series (1992), which reimagined Matt Hagen as a disfigured actor dependent on an experimental cosmetic treatment. Mike Flanagan, a longtime admirer of the series, pitched his own horror interpretation to DC Studios in 2023, convincing James Gunn and Peter Safran to greenlight a project that wasn’t originally part of their DC Universe plans. The film was greenlit with a modest budget of $40 million (roughly a quarter of Supergirl’s), with Flanagan originally expected to direct. However, his commitments to Carrie and The Exorcist prevented him from doing so, with the gig going to another horror director, James Watkins (Speak No Evil, The Woman in Black). Watkins brought in Hossein Amini (Drive) to revise Flanagan’s screenplay and, among other things, make the protagonist more sympathetic. During postproduction, much of Matt’s childhood backstory was removed, resulting in Aaron Paul being almost entirely cut from the picture (the Breaking Bad actor appears for a laughable total of three seconds). Released just weeks after Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros., the film became the first Warner release to feature the new corporate branding. The studio had rescheduled it from September to October 23, marketing it as a horror film and hoping for a rebound after the failure that was Supergirl.

THE REVIEW

Despite all this, Clayface is a surprisingly accomplished genre experiment, effectively balancing body horror with the (anti-)hero story. It is not the goriest, nor is it ever truly scary, and one does wish that Coralie Fargeat had been invited and given full creative control to create her male version of The Substance. Yet, in a landscape of stale, unremarkable, and undistinguished superhero films, it is nice to see one with a distinct identity, and one that doesn’t bite off more than it can chew.

It also remembers something important that the genre has forgotten: beneath all the wackiness and spectacle, we should have a character to care about, and whether you think the script makes him too sympathetic or not, you can’t deny that the film gives us that. Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries, mostly known for the Netflix series White Lines, is quite charismatic and draws empathy from the audience. He is so earnest in the character’s more sincere moments that we take his side, even when the script feels rushed and lacking. This is especially true at the start of the film, which awkwardly introduces the character and the events leading up to his ‘accident’, with Harries overcoming the script’s shortcomings and selling his character’s love for acting. He is also convincing in his genuine relationship with his brother Corey (Joshua James).

We don’t quite feel the anger we are meant to when his face is disfigured, or during his subsequent misfortunes, especially as the film rushes through the trial, desperately wanting to set all the pieces in place and get to the transformation. Thankfully, that also brings us to Naomi Ackie’s Caitlyn Corr, by far the film’s greatest asset. The actress, who keeps getting better and better, convincingly portrays all of Caitlyn’s conflicts, particularly why she would feel compelled to help Matt. More than anything, her choices and actions become the heart of the film, and easily what we become most invested in. Outside of the two, Max Minghella is also good as Caitlyn’s partner, and Eddie Marsan has one decent scene. The rest of the cast is quite unremarkable, including David Dencik as the villain Markos Szabo, who comes across as extremely generic and forgettable.

Because of how rushed the initial assault is, and how unremarkable Markos is, it is hard to become fully invested in the episodic revenge plot. There are a couple of good individual killings, and the climactic bar set piece is very fun in its chaotic construction. Better still is Matt’s gradual transformation, which the film takes its time to build, slowly establishing his ‘powers’. This is where the body horror elements come into play, and thankfully, James Watkins sticks mostly to practical makeup effects, with prosthetics by Legacy Effects, the company behind The Shape of Water and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There is some shocking imagery, including truly gross sights of melting skin and popping faces, among the most gruesome seen in mainstream films in quite some time. The film also works well in the smaller instances when it combines dark humor with creepiness, such as when Matt’s face, while sleeping, turns into a nightmare-inducing sight of Eddie Marsan smiling, or that character’s eventual fate. There is also a strong, suspenseful airplane scene in which Matt must cut his eyelids open mid-turbulence.

Volker Bertelmann’s score doesn’t fully embrace the melodramatic tragedy of the situation, playing decently into the sounds you’d expect without fully going for gothic beauty. There are echoes of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Joker, Danny Elfman’s Darkman, and, of course, Bertelmann’s Conclave, which seems to find its way into everything he writes. Like the rest of the film, it is serviceable, appropriate, and often quite good, although you can’t help feeling that something truly special was within reach.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Clayface is a welcome surprise for the superhero genre, combining wonderfully grotesque body horror with strong performances from Tom Rhys Harries and especially Naomi Ackie, who bring much-needed humanity to the story. Its rushed storytelling and conventional revenge plot prevent it from becoming something truly special, but there is enough personality and genuine craftsmanship here to make it one of the more distinctive superhero films in recent years.

At a glance

3.5/5

“ACCOMPLISHED”

Where to watch

🍿New In Theaters

Where to watch

🍿New In Theaters

Trailer

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