I highly doubt that those of y’all who’ve watched Michael Day’s Clawfoot have ever watched something made by Abbas-Mustan or even heard the names of the Indian director duo. But if you, by any chance, fall in the intersection of the Venn diagram, then you should get the reference. For the uninitiated, Abbas-Mustan are notorious for making unofficial remakes of Hollywood thrillers by giving a spicy Indian spin to them and making them infinitely better (I might be exaggerating a bit, but still). Clawfoot does look like an Abbas-Mustan joint, but made in a gore-met style, much similar to how Chef Slowik made the American cheeseburger in The Menu. You’re bound to enjoy the hell out of it if you have a thing for pulp. However, the film was tad confusing at times, which, in my opinion, was rather unnecessary. I do get that the director was aiming to keep the audience confused about “what’s really going on” for the longest possible time, but that’s actually what bogs down Clawfoot a bit. In this article, we’re going to try to do an autopsy of the film.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Movie?
Rich suburban housewife Janet (Francesca Eastwood, daughter of the legendary Clint Eastwood, should breakout with this) slathers her regular skincare stuff on before going to bed. Next morning, we find Janet BC furiously scrubbing her bathroom floors before starting to chop tomatoes for something (after a while, we get to know it’s for bolognese). Janet soon gets interrupted when her doorbell is rung by Leo, who’s here for a bathroom renovation and, most importantly, replacing the bathtub with a clawfoot tub. Janet is surprised, as she wasn’t aware of this, but Leo shows her the contract signed by her husband Evan. He also stresses how he needs to get on with the job and install the clawfoot. Leo does call Evan to prove his authenticity to Janet, but it goes straight to the voicemail. Apparently, Evan is on a flight for a work trip, as told by Janet. However, she does let Leo and his assistant Sammy in for the job. You know for a fact this is not going to be a standard bathroom remodel the moment Leo steps into the kitchen and starts helping Janet make the bolognese in his way. Not that Janet is welcoming him with open arms; in fact, she seems rather annoyed with Leo’s forthrightness. Sammy, on the other hand, appears to be a weird healthy-eating nerd, and you wonder why he was even hired.
What’s the Deal With Tasha?
It’s only natural for you to think Tasha is a routine supporting character in a home invasion thriller when she’s first introduced. She’s Janet’s friend and neighbor who has come to drop her son Darren (not important, but the kid never speaks in the entire movie) at Janet’s as she has to urgently go see a client and the nanny has bailed. Tasha is a criminal lawyer and a real good one at that. She’s also surprised that Janet would let Leo enter. From the brief conversation they have, we find out that Janet happens to be the second wife of Evan, and he left his first in order to be with her. Clawfoot doesn’t shy away from flaunting the disgusting habit of rich men changing their existing trophy wives with younger, prettier ones (usually the secretary, as Janet used to be) and tormenting Janet with it. Except Janet here has this incessant amount of rage and a very strong killer instinct.
What Does Leo Really Want?
I would say Leo is the weak link here. Even though actor Milo Gibson (Mel Gibson’s son; yeah, this film just happens to have two nepokids going against each other) is quite fascinating in the role, the narrative spins around a bit too much when it comes to establishing the connection between Leo and Evan. It’s way simpler than how the movie makes it out to be. Evan is planning to leave Janet for another woman who’s hotter (to him, I can’t comment as we never see her) and younger (that’s a fact). But what’s Leo’s role in that? None, whatsoever. Leo is here only because Evan wants him to do a fake bathroom renovation and hand him a huge bill. Evan’s not going to pay the amount, but he’ll be able to show his money is being spent on people who matter. Evan is clearly involved in some shady business, adhering to the usual movie husband trope. What’s Leo getting out of this? Well, Evan has promised him a commission for every fake repair he does, and the amount is pretty hefty. But Leo is greedy enough to not be happy with what he’s already getting, so he has come after Evan’s money at the house. He’s certain that he’s going to have something valuable here. And it’s pretty clear that Evan’s Mercedes is what he’s after, as he tries to open the garage door when Janet is out to return Darren to his mother. Sadly, for Leo, he has no idea what he’s up against—a storm called Janet.
Does Janet Kill Evan and Leo?
Is that even a surprise? I mean, the entire first and second acts of Clawfoot were clearly setting up for the bloodbath of a final act. Leo was getting on Janet’s nerves, and she was imagining hurting him badly. There was a point in the film where Leo was trying to intimidate Janet by telling her the story of a suburban family getting brutally murdered, and that’s the only time Janet got turned on by Leo, even though it didn’t stop her from fantasizing about taking a bite out of Leo’s neck. As far as the questionable husband goes, Janet already took care of that by knocking him out the night before and keeping him in the basement—with his hands tied and his mouth zipped. When we see her scrubbing the bathroom at the start of the film, she’s actually cleaning up after handling Evan.
I’m not sure if Janet was actually planning on killing Evan, but Leo’s presence certainly added fuel to the fire. Leo was dumb enough to underestimate Janet from the beginning, which made him come back at night. It’s funny how Leo stumbles onto Evan, and just when it seems like the handyman is going to free the husband and the two of them are going to make Janet’s life a living hell, Leo starts bargaining with Evan. He now wants everything Evan has in exchange for freeing him. That’s obviously a ludicrous proposal, and Evan has no other option but to scream Janet’s name. Watching Leo get owned by Janet and end up in the basement, tied with Evan, has to be one of the most satisfying moments of this movie.
The real surprise of Clawfoot has to be how Tasha’s character turns out in the end. It’s normal for Janet to call her best friend (yeah, after the climax we can be sure of that) to help her handle the whole “Evan and Leo tied up in the basement” situation. What’s not normal is Tasha being so chill about the whole thing and having no problem going all violent on the men. Speaking of men, the one man who didn’t deserve to die in Clawfoot was Sammy. He’s a former convict with no family or friends and an obsession over healthy food that makes him throw all the unhealthy stuff out of Janet’s fridge, but that clearly doesn’t warrant death. He’s just unfortunate enough to be associated with Leo and arrive at the house looking for him. Janet and Tasha even feel a little bad for him, seeing he’s hungry and all, but ultimately, Sammy is a loose end that needs to be gone. It’s an inevitable outcome that can’t be avoided under the circumstances, and Sammy only helps the cause by overhearing Tasha and Janet talking about what to do about him. I’m sure all of us are as shocked as Janet hearing Sammy screaming for life as Tasha bashes his head with a croquet ball (the same one Janet used to knock her husband out) in a masterful scene where the camera only shows Janet’s expression. What’s even more amusing is the ladies ordering food and Tasha not forgetting the chicken nuggets for her son, who’s present at the house while all of this is going on.
Seeing Leo and Evan horrified at Evan getting mutilated at the clawfoot tub by Janet and Tasha is hilarious, to say the least. Things do take a darker turn afterwards when Janet finally stabs her husband to death, and given how he foolishly badmouths her when he gets the chance to speak, the man totally deserves that. An unhinged Nestor Carbonell is a great cast in that role, I must add. Evan might be doomed, but Leo does manage to open the garage door and get out. However, that doesn’t help him, as the ladies quickly get into Tasha’s car outside and run him over repeatedly to make him meet his maker. Janet does acknowledge his importance in what should be called her resurgence, and that’s the last thing Leo gets to hear before his death.
Clawfoot toys with us by randomly introducing the character of the food delivery guy and making us care about him thanks to a really sweet scene with his daughter. But dude doesn’t get killed by our furies. He just hands over the food to the two hazmat suit-clad, bloodied women. Janet gets mad seeing her salad is delivered with the dressing though, which she didn’t want. The final scene shows her lying beside her dead husband on the floor, which has turned into a pool of blood. Does she feel any regret? Most likely not. But it’s hard to let go of someone who has been the most important part of your life for almost a decade, after all.
