Clayface (2026) Warner Bros./Horror-Thriller RT: 108 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity, brief drug use) Director: James Watkins Screenplay: Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini Music: Volker Bertelmann Cinematography: Rob Hardy Release date: October 23, 2026 (US) Cast: Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Joana Ribeiro, Corey Johnson, Rob Brydon, Nancy Carroll, Joshua James, Francesca Corney, Ruby Sear, Wil Coban.
Rating: ***
Clayface is set within the Batman universe but you’d never know it as it never references the Caped Crusader either directly or indirectly. It takes place in a Gotham City that’s been completely stripped of the stylings of previous incarnations. Also and most notably, it plays more like a body horror noir than a superhero flick. It more closely resembles The Fly than The Dark Knight.
Clayface is the third film in the rebooted DC Universe. The title character, played here by Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines), is one of the most popular adversaries in the Batman universe. He has a body made of clay and the ability to shapeshift into anyone he chooses. This is his tragic and violent origin story.
Matt Hagen is Hollywood’s new It boy. He’s just been nominated for an Academy Award. He’s handsome, cocky and thinks he has the world at his feet. It all collapses in an instant when he sleeps with the wrong woman (Ribeiro, The Man Who Fell to Earth), the girlfriend of vicious crime boss Markos Szabo (Dencik, No Time to Die) who doesn’t take kindly to somebody borrowing what belongs to him. He and his thugs cut up Matt’s face with switchblades disfiguring him and rending him unemployable in the acting industry.
Matt’s troubles don’t end there. The police refuse to do anything (they’re corrupt, of course) and a civil suit against Szabo gets dismissed (more corruption). Matt loses everything. His slimeball manager (Marsan, Wrath of Man) steals all his money. His fake friends turn their backs on him. The former golden boy is forced to move back to Gotham where he’s treated as a freak and outcast.
Matt finds a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Ackie, Mickey 17), a scientist who’s come up with a revolutionary procedure that enables damaged tissue to heal by way of nanites injected directly into the skin. It works, but not perfectly. There are still a few bugs to work out. Things get really crazy when Matt injects himself with a massive dose of nanites. It doesn’t just affect him physically, it also has psychological effects. Matt decides to exact revenge against everybody who wronged him.
During the course of his treatment, Matt develops feelings for Caitlin. The problem is she’s engaged to John Borrelli (Minghella, Babylon), the police detective assigned to investigate the murders that start piling up around Gotham. He might be the only clean cop in the city. He knows that Caitlyn is helping Matt; he just doesn’t know how far things have gotten.
Clayface, directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil), has some mighty big shoes to fill. The first time I saw the trailer, I joked that I liked it the first time I saw it when it was called Darkman, the 1990 action-thriller from Sam Raimi. It was one of my favorite films that summer. I championed it long before everybody else discovered it on video and cable. Clayface is quite similar. It too deals with a disfigured person, a radical cure and revenge. However, it’s a little more grounded. It has its OTT moments, but none as large as Darkman. Like I said earlier, it’s more noirish.
The production design by James Price feels exactly right. This Gotham City looks nothing like the one envisioned by Anton Furst in the original Batman (1991). It’s a filthy cesspool of crime, grime and corruption. Its dilapidated skyline is more Abel Ferrara than Fritz Lang. Its inhabitants aren’t colorfully campy. Filmed in Croatia, it’s the perfect place to set this tale of blood-soaked revenge. Its beauty is in the ugliness if that makes sense.
The effects in Clayface, mostly practical, are very good. Watkins uses minimal CGI to depict Clayface in various stages of transformation. The gore and makeup effects have a high “Ick!” factor. The monstrous version of Clayface evokes Jeff Goldblum’s hideous transformation in The Fly. There are also a few cool bloody kills including one scene where a mobster’s head is smashed to a bloody pulp.
The performances in Clayface are pretty good. Welsh actor Harries acquits himself nicely as Matt Hagen/Clayface, a guy coming to terms with the new role he’s playing in life. It’s the ultimate acting gig, an avenger who can take on any identity he chooses. At one point, he even uses this ability to appear in a scene of a movie being shot in Gotham (financed by Szabo, of course). Dencik, conveying lethal menace as the main antagonist, approaches the role with a Joe Pantoliano quality. Ackie is okay as the love interest; nothing about her really stands out. Minghella is criminally underused.
For all its good points, Clayface is disjointed and uneven. It feels rushed at certain points. What really stands out, however, is the inconsistency. For most of the picture, you’re expected to sympathize with Matt. What happened to him isn’t right. He’s perfectly justified in his campaign of revenge. Unfortunately, he does something almost completely unexpected in the 11th hour. Throughout the movie, part of me thought of it, but I didn’t actually think they’d go through with it. When they do, it’s like suddenly your whole take on this guy changes. It’s abrupt and jarring.
I like Clayface for the most part. I found it entertaining. I like that it tells its story without spending $200M on bad CGI. I’d even say it’s the best entry in the new DC Universe. It’s dark, violent and the next best thing to Cronenberg. They should let him direct the sequel.
