‘Clayface’ Review: A Broken Face, a Borrowed Voice, and a Monster Worth Watching

James Watkins directs ‘Clayface’, the third film in James Gunn’s DC Universe, and it arrives with a strange mix of curiosity and doubt. Few people were demanding a standalone movie about a second tier Batman villain, least of all after ‘Supergirl’ stumbled at the box office. Yet here it is, opening in US theaters on October 23 with an R rating and a body horror pitch.

The story follows Matt Hagen, played by Tom Rhys Harries, a Gotham actor riding a Best Actor nomination straight toward superstardom. One reckless night with the girlfriend of a mobster named Markos Szabo, played by David Dencik, leaves his face carved up and his career in ruins. Desperate, he turns to Dr. Caitlyn Corr, played by Naomi Ackie, and her experimental nanocell therapy, which repairs him at a terrible price.

This is where the film won me over. Harries carries the picture on his shoulders, moving from vanity to grief to something genuinely frightening without ever tipping into caricature. I did not expect to feel sympathy for Hagen and then watch it slowly rot away, yet that curdling of goodwill is the best thing the movie does.

Ackie matches him beautifully, and the bond between doctor and patient shifts from shared idealism into something clingy and unsettling. Their scenes give the film an emotional spine that most comic book origin stories never bother to build. Eddie Marsan also turns up as Hagen’s manager, a small but welcome presence in a story that stays tightly focused on its two leads.

The central idea is smart too. Hagen is an actor, so a power that lets him wear anyone’s face and voice becomes a nightmare about identity rather than a party trick. As he loses track of who he is, the film turns his craft into a weapon, and the revenge spree grows colder with every kill.

The body horror is where the movie both delights and frustrates me. The practical makeup is gloriously nasty, with drooping eyes and faces that slump and slide, and a scene in an airplane lavatory made me want to look away. Watkins, whose earlier work includes ‘Eden Lake’ and the English language remake of ‘Speak No Evil’, clearly knows how to stage a grotesque set piece, yet the film often cuts away just when it should commit.

The computer effects are inconsistent, and a few of them pull you out of an otherwise tactile experience. The nightclub finale should be a showstopper but plays as a letdown, and the pacing sags in places. Gotham itself looks terrific though, with wet streets glowing under colored light, and the story is easy to follow even if you have never opened a Batman comic.

Having sat with it, I find ‘Clayface’ a messy but memorable creature feature that earns its place on the DC slate through performance and nerve. It is not the fearless horror it could have been, and the ending stumbles, but Harries alone makes the ride worth taking. I give it 8 out of 10.

Let me know in the comments whether you think ‘Clayface’ deserves that score or if Matt Hagen left you cold.