The Iron Claw is a 2023 biographical sports drama written and directed by Sean Durkin, starring Zac Efron, Holt McCallany, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson. It is based on a true story of the Von Erich family, a professional wrestling family from Texas in the early 1980s. This is a family affected by tragedy, who believed their family had the 'Von Erich curse'.
Fritz (Holt McCallany) is a former wrestler, now an overbearing father and coach who wants his children to become heavyweight champion, a goal he was never able to reach. He has an image of masculinity and strength in his head and wants all his boys to achieve that. He does not want them to show weakness, they are not allowed to cry, and to be a real man they must be the toughest and most successful. If the curse on the Von Erich family was true then it was from their controlling patriarch inflicting these rules and beliefs on them as kids.
The film follows Fritz's four children, Kevin (Zac Efron) is the oldest of the brothers (technically second oldest as Jack sadly passed away at age 6), he feels protective over his siblings and that he needs to step up and win heavyweight champion for his family. Kevin meets Pam (Lily James) a sweet girl who gives him something to put his time into other than wrestling and training. Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) is the next oldest sibling, he sadly loses out on the chance to go to the Olympics as in 1980 the Americans pulled out. Kerry then returns home and quickly gets recruited into the family wrestling business. David (Harris Dickinson) is the most outspoken and confident of the brothers, he is naturally charismatic in the ring and gives the audience entertaining performances. This leads him to steal Kevin's thunder, as Fritz quickly puts all his attention on David. The youngest brother is Mike (Stanley Simons) he is passionate about music and for a while is not a part of their wrestling business, but due to the family curse he has not choice but to get in the ring.
All the actors in this film gave their all, and the dynamic between the family and the brothers is great. Zac Efron was incredible in this film transforming his body to look like a wrestler whilst also giving such an emotional and heartbreaking performance as Kevin. Holt McCallany is perfect as Fritz, his stern facial expressions and square shoulders gave him a threatening nature whenever he was on screen as he had authority and power over his sons. Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White also gave great performances as David and Kerry, allowing the audience to feel connected to the Von Erich brothers. The directing and cinematography was wonderful, the use of close ups to help us feel connected emotionally to the characters, and also uncomfortable during the scenes in the ring. The film is from Kevin's perspective, and narrated at times by him, so he was the main focus but I do wish they went into more depth with some of the other siblings as I felt like more time could have been spent on their story as well.
This is a tragic and heartbreaking story, I went into the cinema not knowing anything about the Von Erich family, other than that they were wrestlers. But this is more than a story about wrestling, it is a heart-wrenching story about finding your own identity, masculinity, and brotherhood. The emotional impact of the last scene is beautiful, and had me breaking down crying at the important bond between the siblings. If you go to the cinema to see this I would definitely recommend bringing tissues!
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