Clayface Director on Tragic Ending, Joker Easter Eggs

(This story contains spoilers for clay face.)

THE clay face The team has every reason to smile after its opening weekend, including director James Watkins.

Between exceeding its $44 million production budget with a worldwide box office of $46.5 million and earning a Certified Fresh badge on Rotten Tomatoesthe DC Studios film has reason to celebrate. But the most important thing is the public reaction. While the genre pic scored 75 percent with critics, its rating among verified moviegoers jumped to 94 percent. The film also earned an A-CinemaScore, an extreme rarity for the horror genre. For Watkins, this reception provides a happy ending to a surprisingly difficult production process.

What made the British filmmaker sell his wares to DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran as a potential director of clay face was a phrase coined by original screenwriter Mike Flanagan. The latter described his screenplay as “a tragedy in three acts,” a catchphrase that inspired Watkins’ speech about newly Oscar-nominated actor Matt Hagen becoming Batman’s malleable, monstrous nemesis. Watkins’ body horror ideas even made horror veteran Gunn “wince” on his way to landing the job.

For anyone familiar with Watkins’ filmography, his mastery of tragic horror should come as no surprise. His flagship film, Lake Eden (2008), starring Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender and Jack O’Connell, is one of the darkest and most devastating genre films of the 21st century. It also inspired the heartbreaking ending of Christian Tafdrup’s novel. Don’t say anything bad (2022), the Dutch-Danish psychological horror thriller that Watkins reimagined for American audiences in 2024.

Unfortunately, Watkins was faced with his own personal tragedy in the midst of post-production on clay face. He received a call informing him that his father, Dr George Watkins CBE, had died without warning. Gunn and Safran immediately gave Watkins the space he needed to process the loss of his family. The DC Studios co-presidents recently granted a similar pardon to clay face producer Matt Reeves during a private family crisis in the middle of production on The Batman Part II.

“We were in the middle of this situation and my father passed away suddenly. As you can imagine, it was difficult,” Watkins said. The Hollywood Reporter. “James and Peter contacted me and gave me time and were very kind when there was a film to finish. So I’ll never forget that.”

Another element of Watkins’ winning speech centered on Matt Hagen’s loss of identity and livelihood, a universal fear that can stem from physical illness, technological disruption, or out-of-control economic conditions. In Hagen’s case, a gangster disfigures his face, effectively ending his acting career just as it reaches new heights. Behind the scenes, clay face Star Tom Rhys Harries quietly hid a serious knee injury to avoid jeopardizing a potentially career-altering role, adding another metadimension to the film.

Watkins and his team were unaware of the Welsh actor’s torn ACL until Rhys Harries confessed the truth while filming a sequence in which Matt flees a film premiere and is hit by a car.

“He still did the jump and fall, but he was upfront about it. We told him, ‘We obviously don’t want to give you a lifelong injury.’ So we had to refine how we did the stunt,” Watkins recalls. “But it’s not like he was picked to play Premier League or NFL football. He’s playing, so (knowing about his injury) wouldn’t have made any difference to me. Tom was absolutely the right actor for the role.”

Hagen eventually seeks out Dr. Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie) for an experimental procedure involving AI nanocells, intended to repair and regenerate damaged tissue. The results are initially astonishing, but the treatment comes with side effects whenever Hagen succumbs to negative thoughts and emotions. In an effort to vindictively gloat over his former agent and collaborators, his new face begins to melt at a movie premiere where he crashed.

The incident sends him straight back to Caitlyn’s lab, prompting him to overdose on his nanite treatment. This fateful decision further transforms him into a volatile shapeshifter whose pre-existing lack of impulse control is further exploited by the nanos coursing through his veins.

Getting into spoilers, Matt’s growing thirst for revenge comes to a head at a nightclub owned by the mob boss who sliced ​​his face off in the first place. As the story headed toward its tragic conclusion, Watkins developed this centerpiece during the final stages of rewriting Mike Flanagan’s screenplay. He worked on the revisions with Hossein Amini, the To drive screenwriter with whom he had previously created McMafia. The goal of Matt’s revenge tour was to allow the audience to bask in the satisfaction of revenge before ultimately flipping the script.

“It came to me pretty late in the process. I really wanted to reinforce Matt’s trip upstairs (to confront gangster Markos Szabo). I kept talking about capturing the vibe of the Robin Hood movies, or a movie like The Cidwhere they storm the castle,” Watkins explains. “I also wanted to show Matt discovering and experiencing the dark joy that comes with his powers. He’s been through a pretty rough patch so far, and I wanted to give the audience permission to enjoy it.

Matt taking down the gangsters who wronged him may be seen as an understandable form of street justice, but his next move is unjustifiable. He murders Caitlyn’s fiancé, Gotham PD Detective John Borelli (Max Minghella), despite Borelli’s efforts to obtain legal justice for Matt. This only changes when the detective begins to suspect that Matt has targeted the key figures who destroyed his life.

John, however, was already stuck between a rock and a hard place. Caitlyn’s use of an untested procedure on Matt meant her arrest could also implicate him. But as Watkins points out, Matt’s nanobot-altered mindset means his decision to murder John isn’t primarily about avoiding criminal charges. Instead, he developed a reverse Florence Nightingale effect and became obsessed with the doctor who treated him. (If Caitlyn hadn’t returned home by then – leaving Matt no time to dispose of John’s body – was Matt willing to pretend to be John indefinitely?)

“The nanos take hold of him and these primal impulses bubble up within him. From his point of view, it’s explainable,” Watkins explains. “That doesn’t mean we have to like him, but he acts out of a combination of self-defense, love, and a strange obsession. He’s just gone then.”

Below, in conversation with THRWatkins also discusses clay faceEaster eggs related to Tim Burton’s Joker Batman (1989), as well as Aaron Paul’s fleeting cameo.

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James Gunn reposted THRIt is clay face review on Instagram and captioned it saying “what a pleasure” it was working with you. Generally speaking, I’m sure you’ve heard all the horror stories about working in executive-controlled cinematic universes, so can we say you’ve had a pretty ideal experience in comparison?

I had a great experience and it’s really easy for me to say. I’m not trying to wave a flag or toe a party line; I really did it. Everything was simple with James, Peter, Matt (Reeves), Lynn Harris and everyone on the whole team

When I first read Mike Flanagan’s script, I really wanted to lean in and honor the fact that he called it “a tragedy in three acts” – while still doing everything you could to root for the character. So after reading Mike’s script, I came up with a version of the film that everyone signed up for, and they supported me throughout my efforts to make that version. I tell people: if you don’t like the movie, you can’t blame them. It’s my fault because I had all the support.

It also looks like they were human beings. clay face is dedicated to your late father, Dr George Watkins CBE, and were James and Peter Safran very accommodating when you had to step aside during your post?

Yes, they were. We were in the thick of things and my father died suddenly. As you can imagine, it was difficult. James and Peter contacted me and gave me time and were very kind when there was a film to finish. So I will never forget that. They were very classy about it.

I am truly sorry for your loss.

THANKS.

As mentioned, you signed on at a time when there was a draft written by Mike Flanagan, and you eventually brought in your previous collaborator, Hossein Amini, for rewrites. But when people hear the name Mike, they think: It’s Mike Flanagan. Why wouldn’t you bet on his storyline?

I understand that.

However, I’ve been doing this long enough to know that there is no such thing as a “locked script.” If there’s no writer on set to make changes, it’s the filmmakers and actors who tinker. Then the edit is known as a final rewrite. So even if you stuck to Mike’s draft as the cameras were rolling, changes were inevitable.

Correct. That’s exactly it. The film we made is completely in line with Mike’s brilliant script. That’s why I wanted to make the film. I’d be stupid to sign up and say, “Well, let’s completely rethink it.”

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