Read this Clayface movie review to find out if it’s worth watching
DC Studios finally let one of Batman’s weirdest villains off the leash, and the results are gloriously gross. Clayface (2026), directed by James Watkins (The Woman in Black) from a script by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, ditches capes and cosmic beams for full-blown body horror. Tom Rhys Harries stars as Matt Hagen, a rising Hollywood actor whose disfigurement drives him to an experimental treatment that turns his flesh into something malleable and monstrous. Backed by Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan, this R-rated DC horror movie isn’t flawless, but our Clayface review lands at a solid four stars.
Table of Contents
About Clayface
- Directed by James Watkins
- Written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini
- Synopsis: “CLAYFACE unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.”
- Release date: October 23, 2026
- Starring: Ruby Sear, Tom Rhys Harries, Eddie Marsan, Max Minghella, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Betts, Sam Hazeldine, and Sonita Henry
Watch the trailer below:
Warning: Spoilers for Clayface
What Happens in Clayface (2026)?
Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is a kid from Gotham’s Narrows who made it big, complete with a fresh Oscar nomination and all the perks. Then he makes the bad call of partying with the girlfriend of mob boss Szabo (David Dencik), who responds by carving up Matt’s face with a switchblade. Hollywood drops him: his agent bails, his manager (Eddie Marsan) robs him, and his buddy scoops up his roles.
Matt becomes the human guinea pig for Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a scientist whose cell-repair nanotech lost its funding. It fixes his face, but stress turns his skin to sludge, and soon he can shapeshift into anyone. Naturally, he uses this for murder. His manager goes first, then a nightclub rampage ends with Szabo dead.
Caitlyn’s detective fiancé John (Max Minghella) gets suspicious, so Matt kills him and starts impersonating him to win Caitlyn over. She figures it out, tases him, and hits the nanobot kill switch. Matt erupts into the classic Clayface before melting into a storm drain.
Except he’s not dead. A homeless man bows to Caitlyn the way Matt used to, and the final scene finds him in the sewers, playing house with a clay copy of her.
The Clayface Ending Explained
Clayface (2026) ends with Matt Hagen dissolving into a Gotham storm drain, but don’t hold a funeral yet, because the final scenes leave the Clayface sequel door wide open. After Caitlyn Corr hits the nanobot kill switch, Matt seemingly melts away. Then a homeless man bows to Caitlyn the same way Matt used to, revealing that Hagen survived and is hiding in plain sight. A villain who can be anybody is the perfect engine for a paranoid horror sequel. He’s also still obsessed. The closing shot finds Matt in the sewers, using his powers to fake a conversation with a clay copy of Caitlyn. He’s lost his career, his face, and his humanity, but not his fixation on her. That makes Caitlyn the obvious next target, especially since her research sits in a Gotham police evidence locker and her reputation is toast. Matt’s killing spree also plays out in Batman’s backyard. The Dark Knight sits this one out, but a shapeshifting killer in the sewers is exactly the kind of problem he’ll eventually notice. The DCU already knows where Hagen ends up, since Clayface is a prequel to Creature Commandos, where he teams up with Princess Ilana Rostovic to murder and impersonate Professor Aisla MacPherson. The gap between the sewer epilogue and that show is ripe for another movie. James Gunn isn’t hiding his plans either, telling reporters on the red carpet that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Clayface.
Who are the Main Characters, and How is the Acting?
Tom Rhys Harries plays up-and-coming actor Matt Hagen. Harries gives Hagen just the right amount of snark and swagger, and when things go bad for him, he taps into a very dark side. His acting is great, and he gives the character enough menace to make him scary. You can imagine that he would stop at nothing to reclaim the opportunity that had previously eluded him. By the end of the film, he’s terrifying.
Max Minghella plays the unappreciated part of Caitlyn’s skeptical cop fiancé with a clever squareness straight out of midcentury comic-book noir.
Naomi Ackie plays the scientist and confidant for Hagen. She’s earnest and sincere in her quest to help people with her nanotech skin treatment, and by the end, you feel her terror at what Hagen has become and what he has done. Ackie is a wonderful actress, but this movie doesn’t give her character enough to do. She’s great in the role nonetheless, and a breath of fresh air in the usual female scientist role.
The rest of the cast does a good job, but there’s very little characterization, so some scenes crackle while others fall flat.
Is Clayface (2026) Technically Well Made?
James Watkins does an OK job directing the film. Horror master Mike Flanagan originally pitched the film to DC Studios, and Watkins stepped in to direct. You can see the attempts at genuine horror, but they slip through the movie’s fingers faster than Hagen’s melting ones.
Thanks to the elegant, slightly ironic touch of Hossein Amini (“Drive,” “The Wings of the Dove”), whose witty dialogue gives the film’s criminal confrontations some bite and the romantic stirrings between doctor and patient a bit of crackle, the script is 90% better than most in the superhero genre. That is, until it devolves into a splatterfest revenge fantasy in the third act.
What’s Good and Bad in Clayface (2026)?
Pros
- Tom Rhys Harries is a killer lead. Harries sells Matt Hagen’s slide from charming Hollywood heartthrob to unhinged shapeshifter, making you root for him right up until you really, really shouldn’t.
- The body horror goes for it. James Watkins doesn’t hold back on the gross stuff, from the face surgeries to the goopy transformations, giving DC Studios its first true R-rated horror movie.
- No franchise homework required. You don’t need to have seen Superman, Creature Commandos, or anything else in the DCU to enjoy it. It works as a standalone creature feature that just happens to star a Batman villain.
Cons
- It drops its best ideas. The first act sets up a sharp satire of Hollywood chewing up and spitting out young stars, then trades it in for a fairly standard revenge thriller once the bodies start piling up.
- The romance never quite clicks. Matt and Caitlyn’s doomed love story is meant to be the emotional core, but it feels underbaked, which makes the obsessive ending land a little softer than it should.
- The science is pure movie magic. Caitlyn’s nanotech goes from fixing a face to turning a guy into living clay with almost no explanation. Comic book logic is fine, but even by DC standards it’s a stretch.
Final Verdict: Should You Watch Clayface (2026)?
Clayface goes for the same sympathetic villain origin story as “Joker” and “The Penguin,” and while it doesn’t quite reach their depth, it gets a lot closer than you’d expect from a B-list Batman baddie. The horror is memorable, including a tense airplane scene, and James Watkins blends the body horror with a tragic love story that mostly works. Tom Rhys Harries delivers a compelling performance that carries the film even when the third act turns into a splatterfest. It’s not perfect. The character development is thin in spots, and the world-building could use a little more Gotham. But Clayface is a bold, gross, and genuinely fun swing that proves DC Studios can do a lot more than capes.
Overall: Watch Clayface
I’m giving Clayface 4 out of 5 stars.
Have you watched Clayface yet? Let us know what you think in the comments section below, and feel free to share this review on any social media platform.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Bluesky. Have a wonderful day, and read our previous movie reviews.
RELATED POSTS
Discover more from The Geek Twins
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
