‘Clayface’ Gives Gotham City a Frightening New Look

Comic book character Batman has some famous foes — iconic villains like the Joker, the Riddler, and Penguin — but a new live-action movie focuses on one of his lesser-known adversaries in the form of Clayface. Seemingly invincible, the rogue has the power to shapeshift into anyone, though his true physical appearance is a monstrous cross between the Hulk and the Fantastic Four’s the Thing. Both frightening and fascinating, Clayface makes for a compelling anti-hero in the eponymous, entertainingly gruesome picture, even as the caped crusader never shows up.Centered on how a good-looking actor with a bright future turns into such a grotesque figure, the film is yet another origin story that rationalizes crime and evil. Horror specialist Mike Flanagan, whose recent reimagining of Stephen King’s “Carrie” also delved into backstories, wrote the initial script before Oscar-nominated Hossein Amini stepped in to do a rewrite, though producer James Gunn asserts that the final film, directed by James Watkins, retains the former’s basic narrative. That narrative leans into body horror and psychological trauma while grafting gangster movie tropes onto its structure to create a modest but clever type of creature feature. At times it resembles “The Face Behind the Mask,” a 1941 crime drama starring Peter Lorre, and like that picture, “Clayface” is a B-movie with dark themes, though it plays more like funhouse mirror than film noir.The movie starts refreshingly without much of a title sequence in Coast City, the fictional version of Los Angeles in the DC Comics universe. Protagonist Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) is a literal golden boy with his blond hair glowing in the sun as he drives to a studio and shortly learns that he’s been nominated for a major acting award. Yet the young man is no arrogant actor as we see him help out his best friend, Corey (Joshua James), and even take a private moment to think of his departed mom after learning of the nomination. Soon, he and Corey jet to Gotham City, their hometown, though as kids they lived not in the center but over the bridge in Lucas Heights, which looks like a squalid Brooklyn Heights. Matt’s date with destiny occurs at a Gotham nightclub upon meeting Mia, the moll of gangster Szabo, whose name may be a reference to Mr. Lorre’s character in the aforementioned film noir. He subsequently brings the seductress to his upscale apartment and into his bed, and it’s there where his face is subsequently mutilated by Szabo the next morning. This gory scene is followed up with others as the unfortunate thespian undergoes several reconstructive surgeries, none of which can diminish the extensive scarring or repair his damaged, cavernous eye socket. Those viewers squeamish about cutting and, in general, blood and guts should beware as the film only ups the gore factor as it proceeds.Despite suing the gangster, Matt loses the civil case due to intimidation tactics and a smear campaign meant to portray him as obnoxious and a sexual predator. Hope and a love interest arrive in the form of Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), a doctor who has found a way to combine generative AI and cell science. Dr. Corr is reluctant to use the technology on Matt due to the lack of human trials and its intended use for degenerative diseases. Eventually, though, she agrees to help him out, and “The Substance” injected into his face works in returning it to its prior attractive state. What follows are several dynamic, at times harrowing sequences and montages portraying the technology’s side effects and advantages, including his body’s swift healing process and, in a simultaneously unpleasant and cool scene, his ability to draw blood and have the fluid rush back to its source like it’s magnetized.Both Matt and Dr. Corr come to realize that his mindset and latent emotions affect how he looks, with anger and anxiety causing facial sagging and other disfigurations. They also find out that his face can take on the appearance of whoever he’s thinking of, leading to a memorably chaste yet still kinky scene in which the doctor monitors her patient’s sleep. An earlier moment between the two finds her stroking his face as a professional but with Matt hoping the touch is affectionate, and Mr. Harries sweetly conveys the character’s longing for love and understanding. The Welsh actor also ably captures Matt’s rage and wickedness with his elastic features, particularly when the plot morphs into a tale of revenge, and even when his face is caked with makeup and CGI, his eyes say plenty.As the medical researcher, Ms. Ackie is beautifully, doctorly empathetic while deftly suggesting the character’s conflicted feelings for Matt. Their subdued flirting is complicated by the fact that she is engaged to John, a city detective played by Max Minghella who is investigating several homicides. Though Mr. Minghella is fine, the investigation and the plot’s mob boss machinations prove as banal and uninspired as they were in 2022’s “The Batman” from director Matt Reeves, who also serves as another producer here. As Szabo, David Dencik does what he can with an unoriginal role, and the only henchman to stand out is played by Corey Johnson, particularly in a fun third act set piece when the actor must act as if Matt is embodying him. If the plot becomes banal once Matt succumbs to malevolence, the movie still surprises through its imaginative physical violence and the way it keeps finding new riffs on its related themes of acting, imposter syndrome, willpower, sublimation, and transformation. The blessedly balanced bright and shadowy cinematography, colorful comic book lighting, witty art direction, and great soundtrack all contribute to the buoyant tone, despite the heaviness of certain plot points and Gotham City’s atmosphere of corruption and downturn. Just in time for Halloween, “Clayface” melds old-school grotesque spectacle and frights with meta-commentary on role-playing and acting-out and does so with a wink.

‘Clayface’ Gives Gotham City a Frightening New Look

‘Clayface’ Gives Gotham City a Frightening New Look

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