Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a rising actor who is disfigured by a mob boss and enrolled in an experimental treatment. The procedure, overseen by Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), restores his face at the cost of his body: the nanotechnology reshapes his flesh into living clay, leaving Hagen unable to recognize himself and gradually losing his grip on reality.
Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake, Speak No Evil), Clayface was written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. Flanagan pitched the project to DC Studios in March 2023 and was originally set to direct, but stepped back due to scheduling conflicts. Watkins took over in February 2025, and the film shot in Liverpool under the working title Corinthians before wrapping at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in November 2025.
Early notices are mixed. Lifestyle Asia called Harries's performance "a strong performance," noting his range from boyish vulnerability to unsettling menace, and compared the film in spirit to The Substance and The Fly. A review at ComicBookMovie.com was less convinced, calling it "too tame to be a classic horror movie and too bland to be a great DC Comics adaptation." Both camps agree the film commits to body horror in a way few studio releases attempt.
Producer Matt Reeves described it as "a tragic character journey wrapped in terrifying body horror." Shot on approximately $30 million, Clayface is the third film in DC Universe's Chapter One: Gods and Monsters alongside James Gunn and Peter Safran as producers. It opens wide in the US on October 23, rated R.
Whether the gamble lands depends on your appetite for body horror wearing a superhero costume.
