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Just watched #Clayface, the #DCU’s first body horror directed by #JamesWatkins written by #MikeFlanagan and starring #TomRhysHarries. Remember back in 2019 when #Joker came out, then a talk about a the creation of a DC Black Label in which grounded, mid-budget movies navigating different genres using DC villains, would be made, which never panned out? #Clayface literally is the pure embodiment of that concept, and an evidence of what we’ve been stolen. In a seamless transition to horror, with the focus being the main character’s development, demanding no previous knowledge/home work, no Easter eggs nor anything distracting the moviegoer from what is in front of their eyes, we could see a D-list villain getting a full, self contained origin story in front of our eyes, in the most appropriate tone for the character. CLAYFACE knows what it is and never looks away from it, and never aims for something bigger than what it should be. It truly believes the character it’s developing and the story at hand are enough to grasp the moviegoer, and oh boy, does it succeed!! The movie does not shy away from gruesome scenes, nor nudity. It uses its R rating at its fullest, and somehow it feels natural, not forced. And despite barely having actual jokes in the film, it manages to give the moviegoer so much fun via situations the character and the script navigate with such confidence and no self-seriousness. But what I liked the most is that #Clayface aka #MattHagen IS A VILLAIN. Making this movie a horror and not having an established movie-star as the lead probably helped the film to keep the character true to its core, avoiding the forced antihero trap route. The script is so committed to make sure we have no doubt about his villainous nature that one of the killings is there literally solely to serve this purpose. Yeah, the film is a revenge story, but while it justifies HOW Matt Hagen became CLAYFACE, it never tries to justify WHAT he became. Also, things only work so well because #TomRhysHarries is a true revelation. What an incredible job, and exquisite performance, literally a star-maker performance. He has that quality, and that aura which makes you feel like you already know him, even if it’s the first time you see him on the big screen. This guy is going places from here, I’m sure. Also, we need to normalise again giving more actors chances. Out of the whole cast, I only knew #NaomiAckie from previous films, and it felt so refreshing to see truly fresh faces populating the rest of the movie, including the leading man himself, and everyone doing a nice job. That’s another advantage of making this film as a horror, because I doubt studio heads would allow anything like it if it was made as a blockbuster. By the way, I loved the scientific explanation for the origin of CLAYFACE, the role of A.I., the subtle commentaries about beauty, access, corruption. It felt like a movie from any era pre-2010, when you would see messages if you wanted to, without being pushy in case you didn’t want to. The pacing was really enjoyable and the third act in this film is GLORIOUS! Mystique would be proud, haha! My only gripe with the film would be some of the dialogue. But I guess if you make of CLAYFACE a horror movie, you give your viewer the full experience, and the rocky dialogue used to be law in most horror films, so I think they took the mission to the heart 😂 I really had a great time with this one, and #Clayface to me is the most exciting thing out of the DCU so far other than #SUPERMAN itself. I can’t wait to see him again! But I also can’t wait to see this format being explored more. #Clayface shows well how to responsibly take risks, as contradictory as it sounds, haha. And I hope other villains get similar treatment. #Clayface is already in Cinemas worldwide.