Clayface is a grisly horror that also functions as a revenge tragedy, as Matt Hagen – a gruesomely disfigured up-and-coming Hollywood actor – embarks on a quest to right the wrongs against him.
It's impossible not to empathize with Tom Rhys Harries's Matt, who is brutally attacked by a mobster after a bad decision on a night out, undergoes experimental surgery to repair his face, and begins developing shapeshifting powers. But, as his behavior gets more and more extreme in pursuit of revenge, you might find yourself questioning your morals.
"It started off with the script, working with the script to really understand Matt, where he came from, how he came from nowhere and got to that situation," Clayface director James Watkins tells GamesRadar+ of balancing empathy and horror. "So when it's all pulled away, we're on his side. And then it's casting, finding the right actor, and when Tom came in, I thought, 'This could be the guy,' because it's just someone that you can be rooting for all the way through that journey, and still have sympathy towards them. That's not easy. A lot of actors don't have that. So, finding that, and then the dark glee as he discovers his powers.
"He's been wronged, and then he gets this moment, and we're with him on the journey, and he's discovering his powers, and he's doing all this crazy stuff," Watkins continues. "I really want us to be on his side, and [have] permission to enjoy the moment. And actually really push that, and then whether we can wink and nod at the audience in a couple of ways there and really enjoy that, so that when he carries on even further, you're so invested with him. And then you're like, 'Oh,' and where that takes you with the character, which I think becomes an interesting dance between the audience and the movie."
Making the audience complicit is also an idea Harries shares. "He doesn't know where it's going. That's a fairly basic thing to say, but it's true," he explains. "He's always trying. He's not wanting to be bad. He's just increasingly giving in to more carnal, primal urges that he has, because he feels like he has no other place to go or to turn to. Hopefully, it kind of co-opts the audience to a point where you question where your ethical line is."
During Matt's revenge quest, he also gets closer and closer to Dr. Caityln Corr, the doctor who performed his experimental treatment and inadvertently gave him his powers. But, the complication is Caitlyn is already engaged to GCPD cop John Borrelli, played by Max Minghella – and the darker Matt becomes, the more unnerved Caitlyn is.
"That was a big pull for me while playing Caitlyn," Naomi Ackie tells us. "We had talked, and actually, the same with [the relationship between Caitlyn and John] as well. James was really keen on making it feel super grounded and believable. In some movies – and I love them all, I love movies – but sometimes they'll jump between meeting and then being like, 'I love you!' It's really quick, and you're like, 'How did they get there? And how much time has passed?'
"We were really trying to make this relationship, the standing relationship, and then this potential new one, feel well timed and not too heavy, too quick, but show that they are getting closer, and in that way that you kind of want them to, but don't want them to," she explains. "So, we were keeping our eye on it and trying to make it as grounded as possible, so that people really care about these characters, so that when the bad things happen – which we know will happen because it's a body horror – that people feel super invested."
Naturally, that means Caitlyn and John have a more complicated dynamic, though John is never villainized. "There was an element that we were trying to find, which I think we managed, which was this balance between a couple who were deeply in love, or loved each other, but were in a stage where they had fallen into a certain pattern of being," says Ackie. "The way Max plays him is so likable that you're never in a situation where you're like, 'F that guy!' There are some films where they'll make the boyfriend or girlfriend unlikable, so you're like, 'Oh, definitely you have to leave!' It wasn't that, either. It was way more complicated than that."
Creating the dynamic between John and Caitlyn was something Minghella found simple, too. "Honestly, it was quite easy because Naomi's so personable and brilliant as an actor, and so she does basically all the heavy lifting, and then you just sort of sit there and react to what she's doing," he says. "I think that Tom and Naomi are both just such empathetic actors. You like them so much."
Clayface is in theaters this October 23. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming DC movies and TV shows for everything else the DCU has in store.
