The Iron Claw – Movie Review

The Iron Claw is an A24 released on December 22, 2023.

Any hardcore wrestling fan who knows the legacy of the Von Erich family can see why there would be an appeal for filmmakers to tackle the story. The Von Erich legacy is filled with tragedy, heartbreak, and many chokeholds. ‘The Iron Claw,’ written and directed by Sean Durkin, does a fine enough job of telling the story of the Von Erichs and their alleged family curse but only sometimes succeeds in answering the question: Why?

The film is mainly from the perspective of Kevin Von Erich, played by Zac Efron.

Despite his lack of charisma on the microphone, he is succeeding in the Texas wrestling scene. Kevin witnessed tragedy at a young age when his older brother died in an unfortunate accident at the age of 6. His younger brothers include David (Harris Dickinson), who is just getting started in his wrestling career; Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), who is on track to be an Olympic discus star; and Mike (Stanley Simons), who is more interested in music than a wrestling career. Their father, Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), wants his sons to be wrestling superstars and run an authoritarian regime. It’s worth noting that Fritz failed to win a world championship in his wrestling career. So he now tries to live his dream through his sons. People say the Von Erichs were ‘cursed’ after family tragedies and failure to reach true success in their careers.

Efron has been in great shape for years.

However, he packed on even more muscle to portray Kevin Von Erich in an impressive physical performance. Not to discount Dickinson and White, who also got quite buff for their roles, really selling the fact that these otherwise more minor actors can pull off the looks of professional wrestlers. Efron’s performance is mostly quiet, especially compared to the actors portraying his brothers, as he’s the most grounded member of the family whom the audience sees the story through. White, who is in high demand for his success from ‘The Bear,’ also gives a memorable performance as Kerry. He is athletically gifted and charismatic but significantly more flawed than Efron’s Kevin. However, it’s McCallany who manages to steal the show as the extremely demanding patriarch of the family. Tough love is putting it mildly.

The performances are solid, and the film looks and flows well enough. Despite those things, as the audience is subjected to one tragedy after another, I couldn’t help but ask what the point of it all was. There isn’t any commentary on the overall wrestling industry akin to something like Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler.’ At times, it almost just feels like you’re being subjected to torture for torture’s sake. This is a biographical film; many of these events happened, but it fails to come together and justify itself.

Verdict

‘I give The Iron Claw’ 3 out of 5 stars. It features great performances from an impressive cast and some intense dramatic moments. But you’ll probably leave the film feeling sad and little else.

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