Clayface

Life’s great for actor Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) when he arrives on set, one morning. Coming from ‘the Narrows’ – the most impoverished, tough neighbourhood in Gotham city – Hagen has paved his way to becoming the hottest upcoming actor in Coast City (possibly a stand-in for Los Angeles). And with his name being announced as an Oscar nominee, the ‘buzz’ around him understandably goes stratospheric. Hagen takes his best friend Corey (Joshua James) for a celebratory weekend on a private jet. The weekend quickly turns into a nightmare, as Hagen flirts with the girlfriend of the most dreaded mobster in Gotham, Markos Szabo (David Dencik), despite Corey’s words of caution. The one-night stand ends with Hagen waking up to find his bed surrounded by Szabo and his men. He doesn’t take kindly to Hagen’s transgression, using a razor to carve his face beyond recognition. Just like that, a blooming life is knocked into hell.

In its rebooted form, the DC Universe has been doing some interesting things – tinkering with the format of Superman to give it a different tone, giving a kickass Supergirl who holds her own, and now making the first standalone feature film on a minor character from the Batman comics, Clayface. It’s a surprisingly winsome outing, with the origin story of the antihero staying close to the dingy, shabby, forgotten parts of Gotham City, and from all that, creating a character you are rooting for till the end. The script was originally written by Mike Flanagan – who is having a moment with his Carrie TV series – with Hossein Amini (Drive) stepping in later. If their decision to keep it simple, with no grand superhero-like flourishes, serves the film well, the credit also goes to Tom Rhys Harries in the titular role of Matt Hagen/Clayface, whose sharp, rugged face is handsomely craggly and feels disarmingly innocent. He switches modes as required of his character, but an essential earnestness remains about him of a boy who has risen from the worst part of town to Oscar’s glitzy heights.

Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a promising young actor on the brink of stardom, sees his world shatter when a ruthless mob boss brutally disfigures his face. Unable to accept his world crumbling beneath his feet, Hagen vows to reclaim everything he has lost, warning his tormentors: “I will be back, and I am coming for everything.” For a movie star whose face is his identity and currency, losing it is nothing short of a living nightmare. Matt begs Dr. Corr (Naomi Ackie) to restore his features, urging her to resort to any unapproved medical means necessary. The procedure gives him back his face, but at a terrifying cost: an uncontrollable shape-shifting ability that he initially struggles to control. His body stretches, melts, bubbles, and contorts, allowing him to assume any shape, size, or identity he desires or even one that crosses his mind. The transformation wreaks havoc on his psyche and unleashes chaos upon his adversaries.