Clayface Has Exciting Ideas, But Stumbles in Execution [REVIEW]

The villain-centric movie emerging as a result of the comic book boom shouldn’t be a surprise to fans since villains carry their own monthly titles more often than you think. As for the results, it’s clear that there were some growing pains with trying to make the characters work on the big screen in the same way their superhero counterparts also managed. Though some films like Joker made a billion dollars and won Oscars, there were also the likes of Morbius, Catwoman, Madame Web, and, yes, Joker: Folie à Deux.

Suffice to say, when James Gunn’s DCU announced a surprise addition to the lineup with a Clayface movie, there was probably no eyebrow in Hollywood that didn’t go up. Featuring a script spearheaded by modern horror master Mike Flanagan, though, the new film was poised to maybe depict the titular comic book villain through a more tragic lens. Though that’s true from the final product on screen, the trouble is that Clayface has commitment issues, with ideas that have a great spark only for some to fizzle out. That said, a few of them do take to the flame and deliver fun set pieces, making this a body horror movie with surprising bouts of joy.

Rating: 3 out of 5

PROS	CONS
Great performance from Tom Rhys Harries	No real identity within the DCU
Fun set pieces	Ends after it’s getting interesting

Clayface Has a Great Lead in Tom Rhys Harries

Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries takes on the role of Matt Hagen in Clayface, portraying the version of the villain that made his debut in comics back in the 1960s. Riding the high of a great movie career and an Oscar nomination, Hagen runs afoul of some Gotham gangsters, who cut up his face beyond recognition. The real strength of Harries’ performance across Clayface is that he sells all the emotions that his character feels, even as he has to quickly traverse through a range of them thanks to the marathon pace of the opening act.

Harries has weight in every moment of the film, from the elation of Matt’s early days to the tragedy of what happens to him and having no one in his corner. It says a lot about Harries’ work as a performer in the film that even as his face is hidden by scars and a mask, he remains a compelling presence to watch. It also helps his case that he’s surrounded by a cast that feels like they’ve been given an entirely different tonal direction to play. Though Naomi Ackie feels like the only other performer working in the same arena as Dr. Caitlyn Corr, most of the remaining ensemble falls prey to over-the-top and silly acting that stands out.

Clayface Walks a Razor’s Edge With Its Body Horror

With no options left, Harries’ Matt finds himself teaming with Ackie’s fringe doctor on a procedure that can perhaps give him his life back. Science in a film about a villain has a drastically different endgame than it does in the movies with heroes, though, so when things go haywire with Dr. Carr’s ideas, and Hagan takes things into his own hands, he starts to feel the…side effects.

As fans can glean from the trailers and the title, this naturally leads to mishaps with Matt’s body that offer Clayface the chance to really lean into some distinct body horror ideas. The trouble is that a lot of these ideas walk the audience to a horrific edge at times, only to pull back and deliver something that doesn’t live up to the concept itself. One scene where Matt’s eyelids begin to close and he has to cut them open with small scissors (all while his plane is experiencing turbulence) feels like the prime time for a genuinely terrifying moment, only for the result to offer more of a shrug. The idea is there, but the execution doesn’t fully commit.

On the flip side, other moments when Hagan is getting the hang of his “powers” actually work. Not only does director James Watkins stage these sequences really well, but the practical filmmaking on display is pure Hollywood artistry, with camera and editing tricks that really embrace the magic of it all. It’s a shame that these achievements make the moments where the bad CGI shows up stand out even more.

Clayface’s Biggest Problem Is the Isolation

As just the third feature film in the DCU, and the first to show Gotham City in live-action, it’s a little surprising that Clayface seems so disinterested in offering any new features that flesh out this corner of the franchise. It largely seems to be a consequence of the story’s self-containment, but in the end it costs the movie even a semblance of personality. Clayface could take place in any other city in the world, because the Gotham it occupies may have a handful of Easter eggs that die-hards will recognize but nothing in terms of actual identity.

At the end of the day, this hindrance to Clayface and its place in the larger DCU proves to be its biggest stumbling block. It would be easy to overlook some narrative flaws if the film dropped hints about how it fits into the tapestry of everything else around it, but containment means it feels more disposable. Frankly, that’s a pity, because it’s worth repeating that Tom Rhys Harries is terrific in the lead role, cementing his place as the titular character across a complicated emotional spectrum while delivering a physically demanding performance. Clayface could have been worse, but what’s frustrating is the knowledge that the movie could have been better, too.