Written by Mike Flanagan And Hossein Amini
Directed by James Watkins
Matt (quoting a movie role): "I'm coming for all of you and Hell is coming with me."
The DCU has had a mixed 2026. Supergirl ended up being a crushing box office disappointment, only for Lanterns to hit big for HBO. Now its time for the DCU to properly dip their toes into the world of horror. I guess starting with a Batman villain was the way to go.
Once again, we have another take on the character of Clayface where Matt Hagan (Tom Rhys Harries) was given the backstory of Basil Karlo. Why does this keep happening? If you've seen Batman: The Animated Series episodes Feat Of Clay and Mudslide, a lot of what happened in this movie will be familiar.
Matt Hagen should be having the time of his life. He's a hot actor and a guy from the Narrows made good. He's gotten nominated for an Academy Award, booked another gig and life in general was looking good for him. Then it went all horribly wrong and all because he danced and hooked up with the wrong woman.
The woman being Mia Torrez (Joana Ribeiro). She happened to be the girlfriend of mobster Markos Szabo (David Dencik). Szabo didn't take kindly to Matt being with Mia so Matt ended up being horribly disfigured, accused of sexual assault and dropped by his agent, Hildie Love (Nancy Carroll). It's amazing how fast Matt's life came crashing down around him.
In fact, not only did Matt lose the job he loved but he also had to deal with betrayals from both his manager, Frank Fitzpatrick (Eddie Marsan) and best friend Corey Bowery (Joshua James). The latter's betrayal in particular affected Matt the worst as his mental state deteriorated as the movie progressed.
For those worried that Clayface would go the same way as the Sony movies have with certain villains, don't worry. Matt might be sympathetic but his story only darkened once he agreed to work with Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) in getting his face fixed. Matt's transformation took the absolute worst turn it could've have taken and his obsession with Caitlyn also lead to the death of her detective boyfriend, John Borrelli (Max Minghella).
In fact, Matt went on a massive killing spree, taking out everyone who screwed him over and there's some pretty gruesome deaths on display here. Szabo in particular arguably got the worst but killing John forced Caitlyn's hand into stopping Matt. The final transformation into Clayface and that tragic last scene might be one of the best endings for any movie this year.
- Both Rob Brydon and Aaron Paul appeared in this movie. The former as Gotham talk show host Vic Chessler and the latter as Matt's abusive father, Jimmy.
- The airplane scene with the eyes and the small scissors genuinely pushed my levels of squeamish. I really had a hard time looking at that scene, it was horrifying to watch.
- There's no big references to Batman, though he exists in this timeline. Coast City was referenced a few times.
- Clayface's final look did seem to evoke the Arkham games. Vesuvius Club also featured prominently in the film.
- Standout music: Jasmine Jethwa's If You Leave Me Now and David Bowie's Golden Years.
- Chronology: The events of this movie happened before the first season of Creature Commandos. Set in Gotham City.
Clayface could've fallen apart as both a horror film and an off kilter DCU project but it delivered on both fronts. Tom Rhys Harries brought Matt Hagen to life perfectly and the character's downward trajectory was so fascinating to watch. That final scene alone will stick with me for a while. A fantastic horror and DCU film in equal measures.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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