‘Clayface’ Review: The DCU Finds Its Dark, Beating Heart in a Monster Love Story

By E. Johnston
October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

Think of David Cronenberg’s The Fly, but set in Gotham. That’s the best way to describe Clayface, and the comparison isn’t new: the project was described early on as having the shades and structure of Cronenberg’s film. Now that it’s here, that description fits. This is DC Studios’ first-ever foray into horror, and rather than sanding the edges down for a superhero crowd, it goes all in. The MPA gave the film an R rating for strong bloody violence, gore, language, some nudity, and brief drug use, and that rating is well earned.

Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a Hollywood actor whose career is about to take off, until a run-in with Gotham’s criminal underworld leaves his face mutilated. With nothing left to lose, he goes to Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist whose untested procedure might give him his face back. Max Minghella plays Detective John Borrelli, Caitlyn’s fiancé, and the supporting cast also includes David Dencik and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James.

Comic readers will know the name Hagen, but the story doesn’t follow any single comic arc. It comes from horror heavyweight Mike Flanagan (Hush, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House), with a screenplay by Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Longtime fans will feel echoes of the 1990s animated series, since the project was heavily inspired by the “Feat of Clay” episodes from Batman: The Animated Series, but the movie stands on its own. And while it isn’t sold this way, underneath the blood this is a love story.

The smartest decision here is putting a newer face at the center. Harries isn’t unknown, but most audiences will recognize him in pieces, if at all: he’s best known for playing Manchester DJ Axel Collins in Netflix’s White Lines, appearing alongside Uma Thurman in Apple TV+’s Suspicion, and small roles in films like The Gentlemen, Kandahar and The Return. He also won the role over some big names, beating out Jack O’Connell, Tom Blyth and George MacKay.

That lack of baggage matters. When the movie tells us Matt Hagen is Hollywood’s next big thing, we believe it, because we’re watching Harries make the same climb in real time. There’s no famous role to measure him against. He’s easy to root for in the early scenes, and genuinely frightening once vengeance takes over. By the end, the movie’s central claim that this man is a star doesn’t feel like fiction. Let’s not forget the jump scare moments we’re some of the best in a non-full blown horror, if that makes sense. They were calculated and intentional with the sound design, so kudos there.

Ackie is his perfect match. She brings a quiet intelligence to Caitlyn, and the pair share a slow-burning connection that never needs to be spelled out. It’s a welcome change to see a woman in a comic book movie who is driving the story instead of waiting to be saved. Matt can’t get what he wants without her, and the film makes it clear she needs something from him too. Watkins has a horror pedigree that shows, with credits like Speak No Evil and The Woman in Black. Working with director of photography Rob Hardy, he gives us a Gotham that still feels grimy and oppressive, but spends a surprising amount of time in daylight, which makes the city feel brand new. The gore is relentless at times, the kind that has audiences flinching and looking away. It’s nasty, unexpected and exactly what this character deserves. And at a runtime of 108 minutes, it never overstays its welcome.

It’s also a milestone for the character. Clayface was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and introduced in DC #40 in June 1940, making him one of Batman’s earliest foes, yet this is his first time headlining a feature. In the DCU specifically, he’d only been heard before, with Alan Tudyk voicing the role in Creature Commandos. The big screen finally gives him room to be as grotesque as he should be.

Gunn’s rebuild is betting on fresh faces and bolder tones, and it’s working. The open question, of course, is Batman. Harries isn’t worried about it. Harries has been seen in interviews for this press tour carrying a lot of confidence that Clayface can take down anyone, including Bruce Wayne himself.

What if Matt Reeves’ The Batman and the DCU merged? It’s not as random as it sounds. Reeves is a producer on Clayface, and the film’s brooding tone and look sit remarkably close to his Gotham.

Clayface is proof that DC’s villains carry stories worth telling on their own. It’s heartbreaking, romantic, furious and brutal, displaying a fall from the red carpet to the gutter, literally. It’s one of the year’s best horror films, and it deserves to be judged as one rather than filed away as another comic book movie. You’ll walk out wanting more of this world, and here’s hoping WB and Gunn greenlight a sequel quickly.

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