Clayface ~ Review

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Shapeshifters have been part of humans’ storytelling language since we began telling stories. The gods in most cultures will change their appearance for one reason or another, and almost every culture has stories of trickster spirits, creatures, and monsters who will change their shape to get what they want. Filmmakers, particularly genre filmmakers, love shapeshifters because they can provide tension, comedy, and drama. In Batman’s rogues gallery, Clayface is that shifter character — a heavy who usually shows up to make Batman’s life just a little more difficult. For elder millennials (myself included), the character is fondly remembered for some truly unique episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. Now in 2026, the character is starring in an R-rated body horror film sans Batman.
Matt Hagan (Tom Rhys Harries) is sitting on top of the world. He’s a mega famous actor and has just been nominated for an Academy Award. He’s a true-blue success story too, clawing his way up from the streets of Gotham City to mega stardom. Hagan and his best friend Cory (Joshua James) return to Gotham City for a talk show appearance to promote his newest film. Afterwards, Matt heads to a club and has a wild night with a beautiful girl named Theresa (Ruby Sear). Unfortunately for Hagan, Theresa is the girlfriend of a jealous mob boss named Markos Szabo (David Dencik). Szabo angrily slices Matt’s face up with a switchblade, leaving him completely disfigured. And like any good mob boss, Szabo is well connected to Gotham’s D.A., mayor, and very good at witness tampering…so no one will actually bring Matt’s case to trial. Additionally, Szabo takes all sorts of nasty rumors about Matt to the press. Now, without a career and penniless, Matt turns to scientist Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Acke), who has developed an experimental nanotechnology that could reconstruct his face. While the experimental therapy initially works and his face is repaired…Matt soon discovers that the nanites has given him the ability to shapeshift. Eventually everything goes horribly wrong, and what follows is a cross between The Substance and Sam Raimi’s Darkman.
The thing about Clayface is that I just know too much. I’m very familiar with the character and his world. Furthermore, I’ve watched Darkman many times over the years, so I know all the beats of a tortured character coming to grips with his own sanity as he can turn into anyone. So, the film just never delivered any real surprises for me. That’s not to say the movie is not entertaining; it is. It’s just that from the start of the story, I knew all the beats. But that’s really just a me problem, because Clayface is fun! And while the script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini plays the hits, it plays them very well. James Watkins’ direction feels pulpy and grimy. Watkins also has a lot of fun with all the body horror elements, with goopy gross-out scenes (a memorable disgusting bit is when Matt has to slice his own eyelids open). The Gotham City presented here (before the appearance of this universe’s Batman, I’m assuming) feels like a horrible, corrupt hellhole where no one would actually want to live.
Tom Rhys Harries totally carries the movie and is fantastic as Matt Hagan. He plays the humble movie star extremely well, but then manages to shift from a tragic Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera-type to a revenge-obsessed madman very well. I really hope James Gunn and co. bring Harries back in future DCU instalments.  Ackles is a great scientist, and her chemistry with Harries is believable. Usually the roles of monster’s love interest and mad scientist in a monster movie are pretty thankless, but Ackles gives her character a lot of nuance.
Ultimately, Clayface is a fun time at the movies. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but it does it all very well.
 
Three stars out of Four