Clayface (2026)

Another day, another comic book property. This one tries to do things a bit differently though, and is all the better for it. It's much more of a body horror, and those with no previous knowledge of the character should be happy enough to watch it for the thrills and special effects. It just happens to be set in Gotham City.

Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a handsome young actor who appears to have the world at his feet. Things all go wrong when he decides to flirt and dance, and more, with Mia (Joana Ribeiro). Mia is actually the girlfriend of Markos Szabo (David Dencik), a major criminal who doesn't take well to the situation. Hagen is disfigured, the preceding legal actions don't go his way, and he ends up going broke, with no route back to his previous life. Until he encounters the work of Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie). Corr is working on a revolutionary new way to repair and reshape flesh, which is exactly what Hagen needs. It's all untested on humans though, and it turns out that some of the side-effects are amplified when a desperate Hagen overdoses on the formula. He finds that he can shape his body in a number of fantastic ways. More importantly, he can also transform himself to look exactly like someone else. Before you can say "it's been a while since I watched Darkman", Hagen starts to become Clayface, and stays focused on deadly revenge.

With a screenplay credited to Mike "current critical darling of the horror genre" Flanagan and Hossein Amini, and direction from James Watkins (who has been helming a wide variety of successful genre movies for almost two decades now), Clayface is, first and foremost, a fun mix of body horror and standard revenge thriller. The 108-minute runtime zips by quickly enough, and the screenplay keeps viewers informed of every development in a way that allows for each subsequent set-pieces throughout the movie to become better and bolder. Watkins directs with an emphasis on energy and fun, but also manages to effectively incorporate the darkness and pain of the central character in a way that somehow doesn't unbalance everything. 

While not as consistent as other elements of the film, the acting is generally good from all of the main players. Harries does an excellent job in the main role, even when his performance is being complemented/covered up by some great practical effects and computer work. Ackie is the other highlight, although I expect nothing less than brilliance from her by this point. Dencik is suitably mean and brutal, Ribeiro has moments of being a typically tempting femme fatale, and there are entertainingly obvious performances from the likes of Joshua James, Michael Shaeffer, Jake Curran, and Eddie Marsan. The weakest performance comes from Max Minghella, playing a cop, and also the partner of Ackie's character, but that comes as no surprise, considering the fact that Minghella seems to have done nothing in years to dissuade me of the notion that his entire acting career stems from little more than his surname.

Mind you, it's hard to judge every cast member here when they have to deliver some of the most on the nose dialogue I've heard in a long time. Almost every other line refers to someone's look, face, or transformation, and it sometimes feels as if the writers had a book titled "The Dummies Guide To Writing Movies Where You Run Metaphors Parallel To Actual Unfolding Events". It becomes tiresome way before the halfway point, and isn't helped by the fact that a lot of the rest of the movie is based around a number of reveals that are absolutely predictable to anyone who has watched even a handful of other revenge movies.

Thankfully, so many other things help to distract viewers. There's decent cinematography from Rob Hardy, another impressive score from Volker Bertelmann, and editing from Jon Harris that is as accomplished as it is essential to a number of the best moments in the film. The final extended set-piece, in a club populated by a number of henchmen and the big boss man, is a real treat for the senses, and I only hope that there's some way to recapture that feeling when we get the inevitable sequel. I'll feel reassured if Watkins returns to continue whatever story interests him most.

8/10

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