The Iron Claw Review

The Iron Claw sees Sean Durkin tackle the world of professional wrestling with his biopic about the Von Erich family as it explores the hardships and tragedies they suffered.

The Von Erichs is a family of wrestlers who are dominated by the family patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany). He attempts to instill a competitive spirit amongst his sons as he manages a wrestling promotion in Texas. Despite this, Kevin (Zac Efron), the oldest sibling attempts to protect his brothers and as his family suffers from tragedy after tragedy it takes a toll on Kevin.

The Iron Claw was a film that straddled the line between mainstream appeal and an indie sensibility. Durkin was from an indie background and his previous two films were popular on the festival circuit. The Iron Claw handled a more mainstream subject since it was a sports biopic that had star power thanks to Zac Efron and Lily James, but it also tackles some heavy subject matter.

The Iron Claw was a film that looked at men’s mental health in a hyper-masculine environment. The Von Erich brothers had everything going against them: they worked in the macho world of wrestling, they were athletic so they felt they had to be mentally strong as well as physically strong, lived in Texas known for being a state placing value in manliness and the brothers had a toxic father. Kevin has the physique of a bodybuilder but he suffers from the weight of responsibility as his family suffers from death and life-altering events. Even the toughest of men could struggle under intense and prolonged mental strain.

It was amazing that the brothers had a strong bond when considering their father played favourites and tried to instill a sense of competition among them. Kevin looked out for his brothers, as shown when he tried to speak to his mother about his father being too hard on the youngest brother, Mike (Stanley Simons). This support was reciprocated as shown when David (Harris Dickinson) jumped in to help Kevin during his exhibition match against the world heavyweight champ. The Von Erich brothers were a team inside and outside the ring: three of them were a tag team and the three older brothers helped Mike sneak out so he could perform at a gig. Despite their closeness, the brothers were, still brothers. They made fun of each other like David mocking Kevin’s weak presentation skills and Mike interrupting David’s personal time in the shower. Kevin did grow resentful towards David and Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) since they got opportunities he felt he should have had.

The opening scenes pointed to the direction The Iron Claw was going and set out some of its major themes. The film opens with Fritz in the wrestling match and threatening to kill his opponent whilst the audience were booing him. In the ring, he was a heel, a wrestling villain and he was a villain considering how he treated his sons. His sons were the opposite since they were babyface wrestlers that audiences could route for. The opening also showed that Fritz was determined, competitive, and business-driven whilst his wife (Maura Tierney) was religious. They were a Reaganite family who believed in family, faith, flag, and free enterprise but were distorted by Fritz. Added to that Fritz was the epitome of toxic masculinity and tried to enforce his beliefs on his sons.

The Iron Claw did work as a companion piece to Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. Both films were set in the world of wrestling and showed how it impacted the main characters physically and emotionally. The Wrestler was focused on an older wrestler who was forced to retire and tried to make amends with his daughter. The Von Fritz brothers were younger but they still had physical and mental strains. They had to take steroids to keep their physiques, they got injured in the ring and needed to take painkillers to get them through the day. The wrestlers in both films suffered the dilemma of what would they do with their lives if they couldn’t wrestle.

It’s surprising that A24 didn’t launch more of an awards campaign for The Iron Claw. It was a film that had mainstream appeal because of the subject matter and having big themes that were fitting considering there’s more understanding about mental health issues for men. It was an assured film with its story, characters, and as a technical feat: there were some terrific wrestling sequences throughout the film. Zac Efron gave the best performance in his career in the film and he deserved to be in the awards conversation. Efron gave his all physically and mentally for this film.

The Iron Claw was a fantastic film that looked at the tragedy of the Von Erich Brothers, showing the hardship of the wrestling world, and looked at the contrast between physical strength and mental fragility.