Released Oct. 23, James Watkin’s “Clayface” provides a concise and unique take on the humble beginnings of one of DC’s most well-known villains. The film follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) as his acting career progresses and quickly turns for the worse after he has a run-in with one of Gotham’s crime lords. After being treated by Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), he has to cope with the fact that he has turned into goop. Of course, you would already know that if you have any background knowledge of DC characters beyond Batman and Superman, which I did not. I am, however, a large fan of the horror genre, which is an area I can review this film on somewhat confidently.
The movie begins with Matt Hagen in a car on his way to — believe it or not — the production site of a movie he is starring in. From this, we see how far he has come from his adolescence in Gotham’s Narrows neighborhood, to now being nominated for an Academy Award and invited to televised talk shows. The manner of this small section is lighthearted and cheerful, showing the bright future Hagen has in front of him. However, the overarching “too good to be true” tone makes this a prime “she had no idea they was gonna play in her face” moment.
After a night at the clurb gone wrong, Hagen is violently disfigured by Markos Szabo (David Dencik) and has his life sent awry after trying to seek justice for himself to no avail. With his pretty boy face gone and his money sucked dry by lawyers and doctors, Hagen is forced back into the Narrows to live his life secluded from mankind. He hits rock bottom, and ends up turning to Dr. Caitlyn Corr’s nanocell technology, begging her to use it on him despite it being in its infancy. There is a false sense of hope here — Hagen is almost back to normal after a long process of healing, but not enough to be truly okay.
With a few more incidents involving the new nanocell technology inside his body, Hagen sees his new life as Clayface and starts on the path of vigilantism to seek revenge on those who wronged him. This is, in a way, satisfying — Hagen is finally getting the justice he deserves, at least until he takes it too far and morphs into the villain most know him as.
Despite knowing little to nothing about Clayface as a character, I thought this film dipping into the horror genre was very cool and unique for the DC franchise. It makes so much sense for “Clayface,” a movie about a villain who can shape his body into anything he wants, to delve into the body horror aspect of shapeshifting. This film does not shy away from the grimy and disgusting details either — one of my favorite scenes, the club fight towards the end of the film, includes an amazing sequence showing Hagen shapeshifting in the most unimaginable ways possible. From his face smushing in on itself after getting clocked by one of Szabo’s goonies to his body warping uncomfortably after falling off a second-story ledge, these segments show the sickening ways the human body can morph and bend.
Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed the psychological horror element of forgetting one’s self. Before becoming Clayface, Hagen always had to act as someone else, and shy away from his impoverished roots. Dr. Corr’s nanocell therapy emphasizes this; in his sleep, Hagen shifts into people that are not him. Later in the film, it appears that Hagen’s default form is just the concept of a human. He has no true shape, and barely resembles himself. His actions, and the way he rationalizes those actions, cause him to physically perform as others, much like his past occupation, except this time he struggles to return back to his true self. That is what I think is terrifying about this movie — how easy it is to become someone else, and how hard it is to remember who you really are.
My critiques are small, but still make a large impact on the visual effects of “Clayface.” Beyond the dim, Netflix-esque lighting that almost every piece of media now has, the film underutilizes Gotham and the surrounding world as a way to drive the story forward. Of course, key areas, such as downtown Gotham and The Narrows, are used, but they are very rarely mentioned. It is somewhat easy to forget that this takes place in Gotham, or the DC universe, because it is mentioned very sporadically. Additionally, I feel that romance has a bigger stake in this film than it should. It appears to be the main focus at times when it should be on, y’know, Clayface.
In short, I thought this film was very good from a horror perspective. I came out of the movie theater with a new favorite DC villain and an interest in the franchise as a whole. I hope to see more movies like this in the future, possibly with even more absurdity and gore.
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