A recent wave of mainstream and indie hits like The Substance and Together has brought body horror into the cinematic mainstream. In an era where violence has become a regular part of the daily news cycle, audiences have somehow developed an appetite for visceral gore. In all of its marketing, Clayface promises to deliver just that brand of terror. Based on the iconic DC Comics and a regular opponent of Batman, the film is directed by James Watkins from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Yet despite Flanagan and Amini’s are major draws, the film never fully realises its terrifying potential for horror. Instead, it leans into a fast-paced, comic-book approach to its storytelling, ultimately foregoing the genuine horror for action.
Clayface follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), an actor reaching the pinnacle of his career with an Academy Award nomination. Framed as a rags to riches underdog who beat the odds, Hagen loses everything after a chance encounter in a nightclub with Theresa (Ruby Sear), the girlfriend of mob boss Markos Szabo (David Dencik). Szabo brutally mutilated Hagen, leaving him disfigured without a face and his reputation destroyed. Desperate, Hagen turns to Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist who has been betrayed by her partners and runs a rogue lab that is working on broken tissue-repair nanotechnology. Hagen insists to be her human test subject, and while the experimental procedure restores his face, the side effects drive him to take more than Caitlyn prescribes, and he discovers his body has mutated and he can now change his shape at will.
There are so many interesting avenues the film could choose to take with this premise. As an actor, it would be interesting to see Hagen use his skills to learn how to properly mimic his targets whose shapes he copies and the slow descent of his mind as the potential to be anyone could fracture his own sanity. In the film, Hagen develops a growing attachment to Caitlyn, the story naturally teeters on The Invisible Man territory, with her only good cop in Gotham boyfriend, John (Max Minghella) as the man in the way.
The film could have also pushed Hagen to extreme lengths to revive his acting career, and the twists and turns it could take for him to secure that would lead him to frightening games of manipulation that would eventually lead to murder when the stakes get sky-high.
Instead, the film takes a straightforward revenge route. Hagen gets a hero’s underdog story, only to discover he has been lied to and betrayed by everyone around him. As he demands accountability, he loses control, triggering an accidental murderous streak that paints a target on both his back and Caitlyn’s. It is this chain of events that his descent into villainy is predicated.
Depicting Hagen as a victim turned perpetrator undercuts the core horror of his transformation. The film makes you want to root for him until the final act of the film, diluting the darkness and sense of danger necessary for film’s genre to fully take hold. It does not help that the dialogue is painfully weak, with characters constantly over-explaining every thought and emotion. There is zero subtlety here. It’s unabashedly watered-down mainstream storytelling.
Despite the flawed script, the film is still entertaining to watch with its clean and seamless visual effects. These are some of the cleanest special effects I’ve seen and they are quite enjoyable to watch. The moment I dropped my genre expectations and accepted the movie for what it is, a popcorn supervillain origin story, there are some fun to be had. I particularly enjoyed a whimsical, out-of-the-box moment in a dance floor that came out of nowhere, proving it could have a bit of fun.
There’s a huge expectation that has been placed on this film by its marketing, trailers, and the high-profile screenwriters involved. But once you let go of that hype, however, there is fun to be had – especially if you like gruesome, bloody body horror. On that front, it has that in droves at the beginning.
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
High-stakes body horror meets classic popcorn cinema. Experience the shape-shifting spectacle of Clayface on the big screen, click here for showtimes and theater listings!
