Clayface

Everyone has a favorite movie star. Some like Tom Hanks, some like Ryan Gosling, others Jennifer Anniston. All of them have reached peak stardom at some point. It just so happens it’s time for Gotham native, Matt Hagen, to have his time in the spotlight. Indeed, he is not just the hit of Gotham but of the entire country.

Matt Hagen lives in a large beautiful home, he has his own movie trailer, all the clothes he could want, and people at his beck and call for his every need: in particular, people that can protect his image. People don’t go to the movies to see “physically unattractive” actors. No, it’s all about image; and that works for Matt.

One night as he is dancing the night away at a local night club, a girl, named Maria, tempts him to take some acid with her and escape back to her place. As Maria and Matt wake up in bed together, it just so happens Maria is the girlfriend of one of Gotham’s most infamous mob bosses, Marko Szabo (David Dencik), and it turns out Szabo is none too pleased to see his girl with another guy.

So rather than take his frustration out on Maria, he takes it out on Matt. Szabo tells his men to slice up Matt’s face until he isn’t even recognizable. Sure enough, this lands Matt in the hospital needing at least multiple facial reconstructive surgeries, with none producing the results he wants. Just when he thinks things can’t get worse, they do in spectacular fashion: his agent drops him, Maria spreads rumors that he r*ped her, his home is repossessed, and he ends up living in subsidized housing.

He contacts a doctor (Naomi Ackie) he heard about that uses nanites to repair scars and cuts on various parts of the body to the point where it looks like they never existed; the problem though is that it is not ready for human trial. “I don’t care, just fix me please” cries Matt. And so the doctor injects his face with the serum and sure enough Matt looks brand new, but there’s a cost…

The nanites react to what the body feels, so if Matt feels angry, his facial features begin to sag like, well, wet clay. And for a guy so bent on making Szabo pay for all he’s done, well, Matt is gonna need a really good disguise.

Stardom, it’s a fleeting thing, am I right?

Clayface’s origin story has changed several times since his original appearance in the DC comics and has served as a name for several different characters over the past 80 years… In the 1940s first appearance in the Detective Comics, he is a disgruntled movie star mad about his film being remade without him or his approval. In the 1961 edition, he is a treasurer hunter who pours radioactive sludge on himself. And this change in origin story isn’t just found in the comics; movies as well! For example, in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3” film, Clayface is an escaped convict who falls into a giant vat and turns into Clayface (though in the same film, if Clayface killed he did so before he became Clayface and never intentionally).

Watkin‘s version, however, tries to combine parts of the various origin stories of Clayface while utilizing one character from the 1960s comic, Matt Hagen. To comic book fanatics this is very much welcomed into the comic book community and even critics didn’t seem to have an issue with this, what I call, Hybrid Clayface. And while I understand his attempt to be unique, this Clayface’s motive and characterization felt stereotypical and just plain flimsy.

Here is the real issue though: the 2026 “Clayface” starts off with a vain, egocentric movie star and his vanity ends up only making him look like just an awful person to start off with. By the end of the film, he hasn’t really changed his outlook on life. Why would he? He’s got these regenerative and shape-shifting abilities. He’s even more untouchable than when he was just Matt Hagen the movie star. No one, not even the supporting characters like the doctor, have a moment of redemption or a true change of heart by the time the critics role (I promise this doesn’t spoil anything from the movie). This is something I might be willing to shrug off, but the violence and vulgar language that I can’t ignore.

I just knew by the tone of the trailer that this was going to be violent (like “Deadpool” level of violence), dark and depressing, but I didn’t know for sure. Before I even walked into the multiplex I prayed. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to protect me, and I assure you the Holy Spirit did. For when I watched the stomach churning extremely graphic on screen I nearly threw up in the process. This isn’t “comedic graphic violence” like “Deadpool.” This is just an onslaught of non-stop incredibly horrific violence. To add insult to injury the vulgar language was nearly non stop. Every sentence has the f word at least once and variations of it multiple times in a conversation.

Content of Concern

*Please be aware descriptions of extremely graphic violence are in the follow paragraphs. Reader discretion is strongly advised**

VIOLENCE: A man tells a story about a woman and her child being abused and how the child died. We watch as a man’s face is sliced deeply with a knife across his entire face multiple times, drawing massive amounts of blood and disfigurement. The mob is shown with a lot of power and controls the police force through fear and intimidation. A very graphic reconstructive surgery takes place. A characters’ skin on his face begins drooping (like melting candle wax) (this happens in multiple other places in the film).

A person is hit by a car. In one moment of “drooping” a character is seen spitting out his teeth from his massively bloodied mouth. His mouth is later bloodied again after he takes a hard fall. A character takes a boxcutter and cuts his finger as deep as he can to see if it will heal itself (it does and the blood comes rushing out of a sink back into his injured finger, repairing the damage. He does this, also, to his face and the entire skin of one of his hands). In one other drooping scene, a man’s eyelids begin to shut and stitch themselves to the skin under his eyes. He then uses scissors to cut the eyelid skin so he can see (the camera gives us extreme closeups of this).

A character’s hand gets stuck inside a man’s throat, and he ends up pulling out all the bones in his trachea, killing the man. He later smothers his best friend in a trailer. At one point all we see of a character’s face is ligaments and tendons, no skin. A man’s eye is stabbed and his head is bludgeoned with the victim’s brain matter coming out of his head all over the pavement (we see the end result). A man is killed in a bathroom stall. People are seen beating each other up.

A character stabs and kills someone. A woman being strangled by a man tries to bite his arm but ends up getting clay in her throat, as she chokes on it and dies. A character cuts his face and bleeds all over Szabo’s face and the blood is drawn off of Szabo and back into the other character, which is extremely painful for Szabo. Two main characters are killed. A man is shocked by a taser and pushed out of a window. A character’s body melts and flows into a drainage pipe.

VULGARITY: STFU (1), WTF (9), F*ck (9), F*ck me (1), M*ther F*cker (2), F*cking (26), F*cking “A” (1), Sh*t (2), BS (2), Pr*ck (1)

PROFANITY: J*sus, (5+), G*d (5+), Why the H*ll (2)

SEXUAL CONTENT: Two strangers meet for the first time and end up making out, waking up in bed together the next morning. An engaged woman kisses another man. A corpse is seen holding his privates. A man tries to intentionally break up a relationship. There is some sensual dancing at a night club. In a dream, a man dreams he has transfigured into a woman he desires and begins caressing his new female body. Someone mentions a man must be taking Viagra. Prostitutes are seen in an alley wearing very, very short skirts.

NUDITY: A woman walks out of a bedroom with a frontal view of her bare breasts (this lasts a good 25-30 seconds). Males are seen shirtless at times. Women are seen with cleavage baring outfits.

DRUG: A large needle is used to inject nanites into a person. A character overdoes on this injection. Someone takes LSD. Someone mentions a man must be taking Viagra.

ALCOHOL: People drink in excess at a night club and at other events.

OTHER: Someone wears a t-shirt with a skull on it. A doctor is seen stretching and playing with pieces of loose skin. Someone mentions if you lie with dogs you get fleas. Clayface is seen in bathtub in whatever naked form you’d expect from a Clayface.

WOKEISM: Someone makes mention, a few times, about the court system and law enforcement system being completely fixed. One person even states “guilty till proven innocent.”

Message

As I previously mentioned, vanity is a massive issue and is the main theme found in “Clayface.” Matt is a vain, pretentious individual, thinking the world revolves around him (or at least should).

He is definitely NOT the example Christians should set. The Bible warns about letting our vanity get the best of us and to be humble in all things.

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” —Psalm 119:37

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” —Ecclesiastes 1:3

“And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life” —Jeremiah 4:30

And Jesus himself stated the following…

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. —Matthew 6:1

Final Thoughts

I’m honestly at a loss for words at this point. As I shared my thoughts on the film with my father he said, “Why didn’t you walk out at one point?” At the time I told him, “I’m not permitted to leave when I’m reviewing a film. I’m there with God’s protection to help Christians discern and make good choices in what they watch.” And trust me, if I hadn’t been writing a movie review, I’d have been out of there within the first 20 minutes of the film.

“Clayface” glorifies the concept of living for one’s self, proclaiming loudly, “It’s all about you. Think of you and only you. Its okay.” But really, we all know that egocentric individuals never get the happy life they believe they’re entitled to have. With a society that continues to teach young children and teens the “Me, myself and I” philosophy, Clayface’s messaging only promotes this philosophy, and this is exactly what Satan wants.

In short, stay extremely far away from “Clayface.” The story is deeply disturbing, the violence even more so, and the vulgar language and nudity as well. This movie isn’t for anyone. You’ll thank me later, I promise.

• Violence: Extreme
• Vulgar/Crude language: Extreme
• Profane language: Moderate
• Nudity: Heavy
• Sex: Moderately Heavy
• Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate
• Wokeism: Mild
• Occult: None

Be wise, every follower of Christ should avoid spiritual darkness and seek spiritual light

Learn about DISCERNMENT, wisdom in making personal entertainment decisions

Every time you buy a movie ticket or buy or rent a video you are in effect casting a vote telling Hollywood, “I’ll pay for that. That’s what I want.” Read our article

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.