DC has just released their first horror movie!
Whether you’re familiar with Clayface or going in completely blind, it doesn’t even matter. This fresh origin story wastes absolutely no time pulling you in and keeping you hooked until the very end - however, the biggest shocker wasn't just simply how they managed to balance its horror with a genuinely compelling character story, but how they also succeeded with giving Clayface far more emotional weight than you expected. This is definitely a film that is not only going to satisfy the long-time fans but will also surprise the newcomers.
Now onto the spoiler review.
If there’s one trope I absolutely love in media, especially when it’s done right, it’s the morally grey character. Someone whose pain and motivations you can genuinely understand and sympathise with while also still acknowledging that they aren’t completely innocent themselves - and that’s exactly what this story nails with our protagonist, Matt Hagen. From the very beginning, Matt is warned by his friend that the woman he’s pursuing is already in a relationship with Gotham's kingpin who is someone not to be messed with. But despite the warning, Matt ignores it and goes after her anyway. Not realising that this one impulsive decision is what completely changes the course of his life, sending him down a dark path that ultimately transforms him into something far beyond the man he once was.
And believe me when I say that this movie does NOT hold back when it comes to violence and gore. We see everything in brutal, uncomfortable detail. The moment Matt Hagen’s face is violently sliced and cut apart as punishment is particularly difficult to watch. The camera refuses to look away from the horrific act, forcing us to experience every excruciating second alongside him. To me, this was the story making its intentions very clear.
This is the kind of story you’ve signed up for.
It immediately establishes just how far the film is willing to go, and I can confidently say that the rest of the story maintains that same level of brutality and body horror - and I mean that in the best possible way. When a horror film promises to go somewhere dark, I want it to actually have the courage to take me there - and while this is ultimately a revenge-horror story, it also carries a surprisingly tragic quality, because it doesn’t take long for us to realise that what we’re witnessing is truly a villain origin story, rather than the origin of an anti-hero.
The film places us directly in Matt’s perspective, allowing us to experience Gotham through his eyes as the people he once trusted slowly abandon him and treat him like disposable trash. Even complete strangers on the street look at him as though he’s nothing more than a freakshow. It’s a genuinely uncomfortable way of showing how isolated Matt has become, and the main reason why this worked so well was due to Tom Rhys Harries’ killer performance. He completely sells Matt’s pain, desperation, and gradual descent into darkness - making it genuinely heart-breaking to watch his entire life fall apart in what feels like the blink of an eye. We understand why he becomes the person he does, but the film never asks us to excuse everything he eventually does and that’s what makes his transformation into Clayface so damn compelling.
By the time we reach the end of the story and finally see the absolute abomination Matt has transformed into, it really makes you stop and wonder.
Was this darkness always inside him, or did the pain, anger, and lust for power ultimately corrupt him into becoming this monster?
And honestly, I don’t think the film gives us a definitive answer, nor should it. We’ve spent the entire story understanding Matt’s pain and watching the world push him further and further into darkness, but by the end, he has crossed a line that can’t simply be blamed on everyone else. He made his own choices. Whether you believe Matt was always capable of becoming Clayface or that his circumstances tragically created the monster, it’s definitely the kind of question that I can see sparking some very interesting debates amongst fans and friends online.
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