'Clayface' Review: DC Molds a New Threat
‘Clayface’ is a stylish, disgusting, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional DC horror film that succeeds because it isn’t afraid to get ugly.
Comic-book movies have spent years trying to convince audiences that every superhero and villain needs to fit into the same blockbuster formula. ‘Clayface’ takes the opposite approach. Rather than delivering another massive CGI spectacle packed with world-ending stakes, James Watkins’ Clayface is a grimy, R-rated body-horror thriller about fame, identity, obsession, revenge, and what happens when someone becomes desperate enough to destroy themselves in the pursuit of becoming whole again.
Set within the new DC Universe, the film follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a rising Hollywood actor whose promising career appears to be taking off. After a brutal encounter with gangster Markos Szabo (David Dencik) leaves Hagen horribly disfigured, his career, relationships, and identity begin to collapse around him. With nowhere else to turn, he seeks help from Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist developing experimental technology capable of repairing damaged cells. What initially seems like a miracle quickly becomes a nightmare when Hagen's body begins changing in ways neither of them can control.
That premise gives Clayface an opportunity to be much more than a conventional comic-book origin story. At its core, this is a movie about a man who becomes obsessed with getting back the person he used to be. Hagen isn't simply trying to regain his face; he's trying to reclaim his career, his confidence, his relationships, and the version of himself that he believes the world took away from him.
Harries gives Matt Hagen a surprisingly layered performance, particularly during the early stages of his transformation. He manages to make Hagen sympathetic without turning him into an innocent victim. You understand why he wants revenge, but you also recognize the increasingly dangerous choices he's making. His transformation from vulnerable actor to monstrous killer isn't instantaneous, and the gradual deterioration makes his descent into Clayface much more effective.
Naomi Ackie is equally strong as Caitlyn Corr. Rather than functioning solely as the scientist who exists to explain the plot, Ackie gives Caitlyn a sense of curiosity, intelligence, and moral conflict. Her relationship with Matt provides the emotional center of the story, even when the romantic elements don't always receive enough development.
Max Minghella also brings a grounded presence as John Borrelli, Caitlyn's fiancé and a detective investigating the increasingly bizarre violence surrounding Hagen. David Dencik, meanwhile, embraces the movie's nastier side as Szabo, delivering exactly the kind of unsettling villainy the story requires.
The film contains some genuinely disgusting and creative transformations, using Clayface's abilities as a playground for practical effects, makeup, prosthetics, and visual effects. Hagen's body doesn't simply turn into a generic CGI monster. His face stretches, melts, reforms, and mutates in increasingly disturbing ways. There is a physicality to the transformation that makes the horror feel tangible. The movie's R rating is also put to good use. The violence is bloody, brutal, and occasionally downright nasty, giving Clayface an identity that separates it from the majority of modern superhero films. Some sequences feel closer to classic body horror than traditional DC action, with clear influences from films like The Fly, Darkman, and other creature-driven horror movies. Critics have similarly highlighted the film's gruesome practical effects and its willingness to embrace its horror roots.
Visually, Clayface also benefits from its smaller-scale approach. Instead of trying to make Gotham look like another giant comic-book playground, Watkins creates a darker, rain-soaked environment filled with neon, shadows, grimy streets, and claustrophobic interiors. The cinematography gives the film a noir atmosphere that fits its crime-thriller foundation.
The first half takes its time establishing Matt's downfall, his relationship with Caitlyn, and the science behind his transformation. For some viewers, the setup may feel slower than expected, especially when the movie is clearly teasing the full Clayface experience. Once Hagen fully embraces his abilities, however, the film becomes considerably more entertaining. The biggest weakness is that some of the movie's themes aren't explored as deeply as they could have been. Clayface touches on Hollywood's obsession with beauty, celebrity culture, physical identity, scientific ambition, and the destructive nature of revenge. There are moments when the film seems ready to dive deeper into those ideas before ultimately returning to its revenge-thriller framework. Some critics similarly found the screenplay uneven or felt that its thematic ideas were only explored on the surface.
Clayface doesn't feel like a movie desperately trying to convince audiences that its villain deserves to become the next franchise mascot. Instead, it embraces the character's grotesque potential and builds a horror movie around it. That's exactly what makes it refreshing.
Most importantly, Clayface proves that a DC movie doesn't always need Batman, Superman, or a gigantic CGI battle to be entertaining. It can take a relatively obscure villain, give him an R-rated horror movie, surround him with talented actors, and simply let the concept get weird.
Clayface isn't flawless. Its pacing occasionally drags, some of its supporting characters could have been developed further, and its themes don't always receive the depth they deserve. But the combination of Harries' committed lead performance, Watkins' horror direction, disturbing transformations, practical effects, strong cinematography, and surprisingly emotional story makes this one of the more distinctive entries in the new DC Universe. The story may occasionally lose its shape, but the movie itself knows exactly what kind of creature it wants to be. For fans of body horror, comic books, and R-rated genre filmmaking, Clayface is a welcome change of pace — and one of DC's most unexpected surprises.