DC Studios’ Clayface is the rare comic book villain movie that’s really a body-horror film, and critics are mostly on board. It earned Certified Fresh status on Rotten Tomatoes, though the Metacritic score shows a more divided room. Here’s the critic scorecard, how the major outlets and the press reacted, and where reviewers split.
Clayface (2026) critic scorecard
| Source | Score | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes (critics) | 75% | Share of critic reviews that are positive; Certified Fresh |
| Rotten Tomatoes (audience, opening day) | 94% | Popcornmeter from audience ratings at launch |
| Metacritic | 59 | Weighted average of critic scores, 0 to 100 (mixed) |
Scores as of October 26, 2026. They shift as reviews come in.
Directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil, Eden Lake), the film follows Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), a rising Hollywood actor whose career ends when a crime boss leaves him horribly disfigured. It was written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, runs 108 minutes, carries an R rating for bloody violence and gore, and opened October 23 with about $3.5 million in Thursday previews, according to Deadline’s reporting.
What the major outlets thought
Verdicts below summarize each outlet’s individual review. They are not the overall critical consensus.
| Outlet | Critic | Verdict | The takeaway | Full review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variety | Guy Lodge | Positive | Finds it more interesting than DC’s other recent films, praises the gore and body horror, and says it works as a one-off with no franchise homework. Calls it “ickily enjoyable.” | Read ↗ |
| The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck | Positive | Calls it “one of the year’s big surprises,” and says its grimy look and pulpy dialogue invite comparisons to Cronenberg and Raimi. | Read ↗ |
| Deadline | Glenn Garner | Positive | Highlights the cast and says the genre-driven approach should satisfy both comic book fans and horror fans. | Read ↗ |
| IndieWire | Kate Erbland | Negative | Admires the commitment to full body horror but calls the film an “ambitious misfire” that grows more uneven in plot and character as it goes. | Read ↗ |
More reviews worth reading
- Screen Daily credits Watkins with B-movie grit and calls Harries sympathetic, while describing the story as predictable. Read the review ↗
- South China Morning Post gave it 3.5 out of 5 and called it a grisly, vengeance-fueled body-horror thriller. Read the review ↗
- The Senior (Australia) gave it two stars, saying Harries is appealing but there isn’t much tragedy or mounting horror to carry the story. Read the review ↗
Where critics split
The praise is consistent. Reviewers single out the practical effects and Tom Rhys Harries’ performance, and several highlight a nightmare-level body-horror sequence set on a plane. The doubts are about the story: thin character development, an uneven tone that doesn’t fully commit, and a plot that leans on familiar beats. That gap helps explain why Rotten Tomatoes is warm at 75% while Metacritic, which weighs the strength of each review, sits at a mixed 59.
How it compares to the rest of the DC Universe
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes |
|---|---|
| Superman (2025) | 83% |
| Clayface (2026) | 75% |
| Supergirl (2026) | 52% |
Reports also say Clayface has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any solo comic book villain movie, ahead of 2019’s Joker.
Should you see it?
If you’re after gory, practical-effects body horror with a tragic streak, the reviews say it delivers, especially as a Halloween-season watch. If you want a tightly written story or a traditional superhero film, the lukewarm reviews are worth heeding. It’s R-rated for good reason, so plan accordingly.
About these scores
The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer is the percentage of professional reviews that are positive. The Metacritic Metascore is a weighted average on a 0 to 100 scale. They measure different things, and neither is a Heretic Circle rating. Last updated October 26, 2026.
Sources & further reading
- Rotten Tomatoes: Clayface (2026)
- Metacritic: Clayface (2026)
- Dark Horizons: The “Clayface” reviews are in
- Gulf News: Clayface reviews roundup
- Comic Basics: Clayface score and DCU comparison
- ComicBookMovie: Clayface Thursday previews
- Dread Central: Clayface rated R
- Screen Daily: Clayface review
- South China Morning Post: Clayface review
- The Senior: Clayface review