Clayface Review: Tom Rhys Harries Shines in DC’s Gory Body-Horror That’s All Flesh and No Depth | Film, TV, Reviews
Tom Rhys Harries delivers the strongest DC villain performance yet in James Watkins’ Clayface, a gory body-horror that finally gives the DCU some teeth.
Clayface (2026) is in UK cinemas from Friday 23 October. Directed by James Watkins, written by Mike Flanagan, rated 18 and running 108 minutes, it is the third release in the new DC Universe after Superman and Supergirl. But this is a very different kind of comic-book film: a bleak, bloody character study that requires no previous DC knowledge.
Matt Hagen is a handsome, newly award-nominated actor whose screen-ready face is central to his success. After sleeping with the girlfriend of Gotham crime boss Markos Szabo, he receives a brutal punishment: Szabo slashes his face with a penknife in a wince-inducing overhead shot. Matt loses his roles and agent, then spends good money on surgery that leaves him scarred and unrecognisable. Desperate to get his old face back, he becomes a human-trial subject for experimental scientist Caitlyn Corr and her nanocell technology, designed to regenerate damaged tissue. It works, sort of. The cells bring disturbing side effects, and Matt begins a violent descent.
Watkins wastes little time before the first attack, but its suddenness makes the impact all the sharper. From there, the film serves up fleshy surgical horror, startling bodily transformations and an unexpected spine extraction. A plane-bathroom sequence, involving half-closed eyes and nail scissors, is made for watching through fingers; a nightclub massacre is another set piece that sticks. Remarkable prosthetics combine with unnervingly convincing computer-generated and practical gruesome effects that is genuinely unnerving. Several visual nods to the Joker add a familiar comic-book flavour without turning this into a conventional superhero adventure.
Tom Rhys Harries is the film’s strongest asset. His big eyes, high cheekbones and sharp jawline establish Matt’s red-carpet appeal, then become a chilling canvas for the nanocells’ chaos. Matt’s transformation into mushy madness happens at speed, but Harries makes even the character’s most unlikely swings feel convincing. He gives the gore a human centre, making the loss of Matt’s identity more than a parade of effects.
Naomi Ackie brings sincerity and empathy to Caitlyn, helping keep the story emotionally grounded. Her performance is quietly effective, though the character receives even less development than Matt. That imbalance points to the film’s central weakness: its body horror has real bite, but the ideas underneath remain skin-deep.
Themes of identity and appearance are raised, then left underexplored; the story also leans on the tired notion that visible facial difference is something to fear, revile or cure. Its catharsis comes through revenge rather than an exploration of any other themes the body-horror genre naturally opens.
The result is savage, often gripping horror with an excellent lead performance, but not the deeper character study its premise promises. Viewers seeking an independent, R-rated DC story and unapologetic gore should find plenty to enjoy; those looking for richer themes may leave wanting more.
Verdict: A visceral, expertly performed body-horror film that’s more memorable for its transformations than its ideas.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Trailer: Clayface | Official Trailer, uploaded by DC on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGO4Mqvo3jI
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