Clayface

The DC horror film is original in its body horror

Villain solo stories are hard to pull off. With the age of the anti-hero on TV, the formula seemed set for films to follow suit. Yet evil cartoon villains, especially in superhero fare, can be harder to crack than the likes of Walter White or Tony Soprano. Nevertheless, filmmakers have been largely successful of late: Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019) was a runaway success, looking at how a mentally unstable man can be pushed to an extreme, while Loki (2021-2023) showed us how villainy can come from jealousy. The latest to take on the villain’s perspective is the DC film Clayface (2026).

Clayface follows successful rising movie star Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), who has just gotten his first Oscar nomination, has the press fawning over him, and is getting job offers left and right. Out at a club one night, he accidentally flirts and sleeps with Mia Torresz (Joana Ribeiro), the girlfriend of notorious mobster Markos Szabo (David Dencik). As a result, Szabo carves up Matt’s face with a switchblade, leaving him deformed. Without his looks, Matt becomes ostracized and abandoned. In his desperate throes he goes to scientist Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), who is experimenting with a self-healing cellular therapy. Matt desperately volunteers as a human trial candidate and the result is that his deformities are cured, but his face and skin soon become unstable, moldable, and shapeshifting.

Clayface is directed by James Watkins, who has made his career making serviceable if unremarkable horror films such as The Woman in Black (2012) or the recent remake Speak No Evil (2024). The script, however, comes from horror auteur Mike Flanagan, of The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Doctor Sleep (2019), and Midnight Mass (2021) fame, with a rewrite by Hossein Amini. The result is a partnership that proves more fruitful than you’d expect. Flanagan slots the character of Clayface perfectly within the moody atmosphere of Gotham, yet also retains a rated-R body horror element that is refreshing in a mainstream superhero film. Watkins likewise is incredibly adept at managing the film from a practical level, using astounding make-up and editing tricks to bring the malleable face of Matt Hagen to life. It makes Clayface more tactile as a result and the violence all the grimier and cringey.

Watkins and Flanagan are incredibly creative with their horror stagings for this film. It would have been easy enough to play around with the shape-shifting nature of the character, but the filmmakers go a step further, into thinking about the limits of their concept. As such we get some rather original deaths, such as a man being suffocated by being smothered by another’s belly, or Matt’s eyes being webbed shut by his own skin as he sees a TV report that disturbs him. In horror, such originality can prove key to etching scary images into your brain. Just think of the first time you saw the girl from The Exorcist (1973) spin her head or Jack Nicholson peeking through the bathroom door and exclaiming “Here’s Johnny!” in The Shining (1980). Predictability in a horror film can prove a death knell for tension and, while Clayface can be fairly rote in its story beats, the way it executes its scares makes it memorable.

The best of modern horror films usually carry some depth and multiple meanings within them, making their interpretability part of the fun. Just think of The Invisible Man (2020), Candyman (2021), or the recent duo of Backrooms(2026) and Obsession (2025). Clayface holds back from this trend; it doesn’t seek to delve into philosophical commentary and instead is happy to remain within its entertaining thrills and body horror. It means that the film lacks a depth and emotional impact that would have helped its dramatic moments land better, but it doesn’t detract from the gore and gruesome ick that are the main objectives.

Rhys Harries is a true find after many years taking small roles, and he carries Matt’s descent from successful star to a lost man who lashes out in vengeance with a convincing intensity. Ackie, meanwhile, threads between two classic comic book cliché characters, love interest and scientist, without falling into tropes, delivering a distinct personality and motivation.

Clayface is a bold horror flick for a superhero film, one that embraces its genre unapologetically. Flanagan’s originality alongside Watkins’ steady direction help craft a solid structure for the real highlight of the film to play out: the spectacular make-up and original horror sequences. As such, Clayface is an enjoyable horror film, even if under the molding and gruesome skin effects there isn’t much depth.

7.0/10