The Iron Claw is a riveting sports movie and an enthralling real-life drama about the Von Erichs, a Texas pro wrestling family whose dedication to the showbiz sport in the 1980s brought them fame as well as tragedy. Predictably, the film shares certain traits with other sports biopics – the dominating and driven mum or dad, the kids who train endlessly to make their parents’ dream a reality. This is far darker than, say, the Williams’ sisters’ story in King Richard or the ice-skating black comedy I, Tonya.
The Von Erichs became famous in the late 1970s and 1980s, five sons (a sixth had died in childhood) followed in wrestler-turned-promoter father Fritz’s footsteps in the National Wrestling Alliance, the dominant league in American wrestling before the WWE/WWF era.
It’s remarkable enough that parents (played here by a fearsome Holt McCallany and a sad-eyed Maura Tierney) would spawn so many talented offspring. But the ties that bound this close and loving family also had devastating consequences; as well as two life-changing injuries, it suffered no fewer than five tragic deaths, spawning “the Von Erich curse”.
Writer-director Sean Durkin has made families psychological battlegrounds before, in 2011 cult survivor Martha Marcy May Marlene and 2020′s The Nest. A wrestling fan since childhood, bringing the Von Erichs to the screen has been a long-time dream.
And he’s got quite a tag team to do it with. Zac Efron stuns as oldest son Kevin, aptly displaying his agility and astounding abdominals in brilliantly choreographed and flinch-inducing fight scenes. Even if you know wrestling is all smoke and mirrors, the punches are palpable.
Efron is ably supported by Jeremy Allen White, star of TV hit The Bear, as Kerry, and Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness) as David. The younger brothers are competition for their father’s approval and as the uncompromising patriarch, McCallany (Mindhunter) might spend less time in the ring but he’s the standout performance.
The heft of the cast – which includes Brit Lily James as Kevin’s wife – matches Durkin’s superb script, which navigates the fight night excitement and the relentless run of tragedies with just the right tone.
And he has made a film that effortlessly evokes the era of shaggy hair, flared pants, and one where, among the Von Erich family at least, there was an unquestioning respect for their elders that might give us pause for thought nowadays.
The “iron claw” of the title was Fritz’s wrestling name, inspired by a move in which the fighter grabs his opponent’s head in one hand before slamming him onto the canvas. This film is just as gripping and bruising.
Rating out of 5: ★★★★½
The Iron Claw, directed by Sean Durkin, is in cinemas now.
