October 22, 2026
Up and coming film actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) was celebrating his first Oscar nomination in a posh club, when he was seduced by wannabe actress Mia Torrez (Joana Ribeiro). Despite being warned by his best friend Corey (Joshua James), the two hooked up and wound up in bed together. When they were caught by Mia's gangster boyfriend Markos Szabo (David Dencik), Matt's pretty face was brutally carved up by his minions.
Because of his deformed countenance, Matt eventually lost everything all over again, which left him very desperate. One day, he caught an interview on television featuring Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist working on medical applications of nanoparticles who had been swindled by her business partners who took advantage of her discoveries. Matt sought Dr. Corr out, willing to offer himself as a willing guinea pig for her clinical trials.
"Clayface" is a seemingly random choice as the third film of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe after "Superman" and "Supergirl" (2026). Clayface is a classic Batman villain in the comics. Matt Hagen is the second incarnation of Clayface in 1961, but his job in the comics was a treasure hunter. It was Basil Karlo, the original Clayface from1940, who was a disgruntled Hollywood actor, just like the main character of this film.
Matt Hagen was sort of portrayed as an anti-hero here, and Tom Rhys Harries played him in a way that made him sympathetic. He had been injured very badly which cost him his jobs and fortune, but was unable to gain justice by legal means because of his opponent's intimidating influence. Of course, he was not without his flaws. His pride made him do a series of bad decisions which ruined him as an actor, and ultimately as a person. I was rooting for him, until that one scene with Dr. Corr's cop fiance John (Max Minghella) that felt abrupt.
This original screenplay was written by none other than horror guru Mike Flanagan, so the gruesome aspect was very evident, but the direction was turned over to James Watkins. The origin story was actually quite good, and Harries' acting was engaging. The special effects of the clay-like consistency of Matt's face and how he could shapeshift his appearance were very well-executed, especially in that breathtakingly-edited climactic sequence inside the Vesuvius nightclub involving multiple characters that peaked in a Mexican standoff.
This film was truly a showcase of extreme body horror at its most grotesque. This film is rated R-18 locally, and this is most likely due to the intensely violent and graphic scenes of facial mutilation involving knives and scissors, which will make the squeamish wince and look and away. Apart from being set in Gotham City, I didn't catch any hint of the Batman here (except for the name of Matt Reeves as one of the producers), so you'll go out wondering how he would tie into Gunn's vision of the DC Universe. 7/10
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