DC Studio's Clayface is an exciting but overly cautious step in the right direction

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Clayface, the latest entry in James Gunn’s new DCU, has not presented itself as a superhero story or a traditional action-adventure we’ve come to expect from the comic book movie world, instead opting for a body horror film. In a bold move, the lesser-known Batman villain has received the theatrical treatment before the Caped Crusader, which has understandably left many comic book fans confused. Gunn has stated that the priority is to greenlight projects once the script is finished and meets DC Studios’ standards. With a screenplay by Mike Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep, and Gerald’s Game), and directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil, Eden Lake, Black Mirror), Clayface was shaping up to be a true horror film and not some anti-hero slop masquerading as one. Now that the film is officially out, it’s safe to say that while Clayface does deliver on gross-out and occasionally spine-tingling moments, courtesy of the eponymous goopy villain, it still ultimately feels weighed down by an over-reliance on narrative convention.

The story follows actor Matt Hagan (Tom Rhys Harries), fresh off an Academy Award nomination, and feeling on top of the world. While clubbing, he has an unfortunate “entanglement” (shout out Jada) with a mob boss’s girlfriend, leading the mobster to brutally disfigure Hagan’s face. This leads Hagan to Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist with an experimental procedure that could restore his face but causes unexpected physiological consequences.

Comic book movies have been in a state of arrested development for a while now. The concept of “superhero fatigue” always comes up when one of these big cape flicks bombs or is critically panned, often both. This conversation doesn’t seem to pick up steam when a superhero movie is actually good, as seen this summer with Spider-Man: Brand New Day becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time. If the movies are actually good, the fatigue won’t set in; Gunn has said exactly that. Gunn wants to make sure his new take on the DC universe fully takes advantage of the film medium in all its different possibilities for storytelling.

Clayface introduces an interesting wrinkle to the “superhero fatigue” discussion. As an actual horror film, this is an immediate breath of fresh air for the comic book movie space inherently. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was pitched as the first scary movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) when director Scott Derrickson was still attached, but after he left and Sam Raimi took over, it was clear the MCU still wasn’t ready for a full-blown horror film. Save for a few of Raimi’s trademark horror flourishes, the Doctor Strange sequel was a better comedy than a horror movie.

Horror films are a constant point of success in the industry, even when they’re terrible. People always go out to see horror movies, and they are usually relatively cheap to produce. However, in the last few years, there have been a shocking number of great horror films that were not only financial hits, but critical ones too. Movies like Weapons, Obsession, Backrooms, and even a big intellectual property (IP) like Resident Evil had a fantastic movie this year. So, while the genre is thriving and this is the perfect time for a movie like Clayface, it still has to distinguish itself as something special among the sea of great new horror films, all with clear, artistic visions, something that major studio releases often struggle with.

Clayface won’t struggle much financially, having made most of its roughly $44 million budget back in its opening weekend, but the real test is how well it stands as a movie on its own. Clayface is an entertaining film overall that is strongest when leaning into its premise, and unfortunately struggles in fleshing out its characters.

The film speeds through its first act, barely wasting any time in setting up the story and inciting incident. It’s fairly easy to root for a character like Hagan. Anyone can sympathize with the idea of “having it all” only for it to be ripped away in the most painful way imaginable overnight. This movie understands that, but relies on this inherent sympathy rather than creating a likable character from the jump who we might empathize with before the assault that sets off the story.

Once the story kicks in and the body horror elements start to trickle in, these moments are where the movie really shines. A red carpet sequence early on, the airplane scene in the trailer, and large portions of the whole second half of the film are very entertaining and, at times, genuinely clever. The issue comes with nearly any scene in between.

The film presents a potential romance between the two leads, Hagan and Dr. Corr, and unfortunately just does not flesh out their relationship nearly enough. So much of the film is very plot-heavy at the cost of interesting characterization. We’re asked to believe that these characters actually begin to care about each other, but the relationship shown never truly feels like anything more than that of a doctor and patient.

The antagonists Hagan deals with also feel quite underwritten. The mobster responsible for his disfigurement especially feels like the most generic mob boss that could be plugged into any movie requiring a Soprano’s reject. The villains feel more like stepping stones for Hagan’s eventual turn to the titular monster.

Despite the story feeling quite unsurprising for the most part, there is a point where the movie really finds its footing and takes advantage of the concept in very satisfying ways. One of Clayface’s main abilities is to shapeshift, and the way it’s utilized throughout adds a layer of creativity and tension that was such a pleasant surprise.

While the body horror never quite reaches the heights of The Substance (2024) or even Together (2025), it does have a few moments that are quite shocking for the squeamish. Certain moments feel like the film may be holding back, especially with some of the transformation effects, which could have been grosser.

The performances are all rock solid, but never exceptional by the end. The scene where Hagan is disfigured, while admittedly very graphic and violent, is not quite as effective as it should be, mainly due to Rhys Harries’ performance in this scene. His reaction to what is happening just doesn’t feel convincing enough for how painful it looks. This could also be a fault of the director, but it’s not a huge issue. It just would have made an already visually effective scene feel that much more memorable.

The rest of the cast does a pretty solid job, and in the moments where Hagan shapeshifts, the scenes create opportunities for actors who felt like background characters to steal the show for a minute.

Director James Watkins gives this film a look that really makes this stand out among most comic book movies, with lighting and color grading that don’t make the picture look like concrete, but the direction overall feels fairly safe. There isn’t anything too innovative going on in the filmmaking, and compared to the recent crop of horror films from the last two years, this is not as fresh.

Despite its issues, Clayface is a success for DC Studios. In their third feature film, they’ve proven that comic books are a rich source to pull all sorts of stories to adapt. Not every one of them needs to be about a superhero or have the same structure and message. By the time the credits rolled, Clayface had cemented itself as something truly special.

6/10