“Clayface” Does Not Save a Cat

In basic storytelling, there is an idea called “save the cat.”  It states that a protagonist should do something heroic in the film to help the audience get behind her and her cause.  For example, saving a cat from being stuck in a tree.  Now, it’s true that not every protagonist needs to save a cat, strictly speaking.  The problem with Clayface is that the main character, Matt Hagen (played by Tom Rhys Harries), not only metaphorically fails to save a cat, he instead kidnaps that cat, holds it for ransom, burns it, and throws its ashes into a dumpster after pocketing its owner’s money. 

That doesn’t actually happen in the film, but, point being, Clayface has a main character who is absolutely awful.  He is a mass murderer, without any justification, who likes to sexually pursue other people’s partners.  This means that we are without a strong protagonist most of the runtime.  There are a couple characters who could serve as the film’s moral center, most notably Dr. Caitlyn Corr (played by Naomi Ackie), but they don’t have enough screentime or make enough pivotal decisions. 

Horror films almost always need a strong protagonist, because in order to be scared of the antagonist, we need to be concerned for somebody’s well-being.  Not only does Clayface not capitalize on the potential for a strong protagonist, it also features an incredibly weak and generic antagonist.  David Dencik plays Markos Szabo, a mob boss that feels less like he belongs in a 2026 feature film and more like he belongs in a 1940s Looney Tunes cartoon.  Perhaps that works with Clayface being a character from Batman, a noir comic series from the early twentieth century, but that feels less like a reason and more like an excuse. 

2026 is proving that horror films do not necessarily need heroic protagonists.  Both Backrooms and Obsession feature protagonists that do awful things, specifically towards women.  Wouldn’t both of those films break the “save the cat” rule? But the difference is that the moral center of the movie is against those characters; their mistakes are the impetus for the plot and come back to haunt them in gruesome ways.  In Clayface, it is Dr. Corr’s incompetence, not Hagen’s evil, that acts as that impetus and ultimately leads to Hagen’s downfall. 

That, and, Backrooms and Obsession are way cooler than Clayface.  But that isn’t an apples-to-orange comparison, since the first two scare you with completely different tactics than Clayface.  What is an apples-to-apples comparison is other body horror films, like The Thing, The Fly, this year’s Resident Evil, and most aptly, The Substance.  If you’ve seen The Substance, imagine that movie but devoid of creativity or meaning.  There are maybe two or three shots that really capitalize on the potential of this premise, but otherwise, it feels shockingly PG-13. 

There is not much diversity to be found in Clayface.  It is nice that Naomi Ackie’s character is debatably the moral center of the film.  But as stated earlier, her lack of respect for the law or ethics is the reason that the entire plot happens.  Having your one prominent Black character be in that role is not exactly high quality representation.  In addition, Matt Hagen’s business manager invokes negative Jewish stereotypes.  It would be easier to write this off if this didn’t also happen in last year’s Superman, both under the DCU umbrella. 

Overall, there’s not much to offer in Clayface.  Tom Rhys Harries does put in a good performance as Clayface himself, but there isn’t enough solid material for him to be memorable, and his support is weak.  This feels like the creative team wanted to make a truly exciting body horror film, but the studio backing it wanted to make yet another generic blockbuster, and the result is some Frankenstein of cool ideas and studio mandates.  This could be a decent introduction for young people to the horror genre, but if you’re well versed, sit this one out.