‘Clayface’ movie review: Tom Rhys Harries shines in body-horror thriller

Directed by the excellent Speak No Evil’s James Watkins, Clayface tells the origin story of the popular villain and sometime ally of Batman.

With a story and screenplay by Mike Flanagan (who could not direct because of scheduling conflicts with the mini-series Carrie and The Exorcist: Martyrs coming out in 2027), Clayface eschews the 1950s iteration of the science fiction-inspired treasure hunter for the shapeshifter’s origins in the 1940s Detective Comics.

Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) seems to have it all. Emerging from a tough childhood, Matt is now the toast of Hollywood. In fact, when we first meet Matt, he is getting ready for a shot, and a break is announced. Matt and his best friend, Corey (Joshua James), who is also an actor, hear the Best Actor nominations at the Academy Awards. There are congratulations all around when Matt’s name is announced.

Matt and Corey head to Gotham for an interview with a popular talk show host. While partying at a nightclub, Matt is approached by a beautiful woman, Mia (Joana Ribeiro). Though warned by Corey to stay away from Mia, as she is the local mob boss, Markos Szabo’s (David Dencik) woman, Matt has sex with her.

To his horror, he wakes up to Szabo and his gang of toughs at his bedside, and they slash his face with a switchblade. Matt’s friends and associates, including his agent, Hildie (Nancy Carroll), and manager, Frank (Eddie Marsan), drop him.

Following a smear campaign and six expensive surgeries, Matt becomes an outcast, refusing to step out of his roach-infested apartment and unable to face the disgusted looks his badly disfigured face garners.

At his rock bottom, he sees a report on cutting-edge research by Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) where nano cells infiltrate the body to heal it. Matt visits Caitlyn and offers himself as a test subject, though she says they are at least a year away from human trials. Matt says he is willing to sign anything, and even if he dies due to the treatment, it is better than living the way he is now.

The treatment at first seems to go well, and Matt’s face is healed, but of course there are side effects (also thanks to one of Matt’s desperate gambits), and Matt soon finds his body taking on the consistency of clay. As his body changes, so do his mind and soul, letting his darker side take control.

After Joker, Clayface is another attempt to provide a Batman villain with an origin story to reveal a tragedy to be the driving force behind their nastiness. Clayface works best when leaning into its pulpy (pun intended) heart, as the attempt to make an anti-hero of a villain does not earn its space.

Going full body horror is fun, if predictable — we instinctively know who Matt will impersonate next and that bowl of nuts was signaling louder than a lighthouse what was going to happen next.

Rhys Harries shines as the vulnerable, angry golden child, and his chemistry with Ackie is one of the strongest threads. Max Minghella brings earnest intelligence to his turn as police detective John Borrelli, investigating the rash of violent crimes.

The complete lack of lore is liberating. As long as one does not wander too deeply into the metaphor of clay being the building block of life, Clayface is interesting enough. Some gorgeous visuals offset the stomach-churning ones. Images of Matt in the bathtub and the lovers entwined like the couple in Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss are veritable works of art.

Clayface is currently running in theatres