REVIEW: ‘The Iron Claw’ Is Devastating

A24 offered another stacked slate of films this year, none of them the same as the last. That continues with The Iron Claw. Directed and written by Sean Durkin, the film tells the tragically true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Pushed by their father into competition in the ring and with each other, the siblings have to navigate a world where their personal dreams come second to the family they were born into, but despite that, never lose their bond. The Iron Claw stars Zac Efron, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons, Jeremy Allen White, Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney, and Lily James.

The Von Erich story is tragic. Recently inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, their legacy is as indisputable as the pain their family lived through. Where there is pain, there are also moments of triumph and joy, which are necessary to build the emotional weight of the immense loss the family endures. The Iron Claw brings the audience through Kevin (Zac Efron), David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), and Mike (Stanley Simons) Von Erich’s lives as they all vie for their father’s love and pride in the ring, until it takes its toll.

The Iron Claw confronts legacy, masculinity, and brotherhood in a riveting but resonant way. The film uses its first two acts to pull the audience in with Kevin, David, and later Kerry’s charisma. They’re endearing apart but tremendous when together. At the same time, Mike’s kindness and musical soul cut out a different place in their brotherhood: The one to be protected from the father. The one allowed to thrive in what he loves.

As the film progresses, the excitement for their triumphs begins to leave. Expertly chipped away by choices and happenstance, the story always coming back to the weight of manhood and legacy each brother bears because of their father’s obsession with claiming a belt that he once lost. Von Erich patriarch’s legacy and life are not over because he left the ring, but rather buried in each of his sons. His regret for missing out on a world title becomes his son’s goal, and the crushing weight of that responsibility echoes through each brother and each tragic choice.

Once the pain starts hitting in The Iron Claw, it just doesn’t stop. Each heartbreak is a flying kick to the chest. Each choice, each stifled scream of grief, all of it builds on the last moment of devastating loss, and Efron’s Kevin is buckling more with each and every hit. Kevin carries the weight of his family’s grief in his soul with each subsequent loss. The oldest of his living brothers at any given time, he blames himself, agonizing over the mounting pressure from his father, who is an unrelenting.

The Iron Claw is Efron’s finest moment as an actor, testing himself and pushing past the stereotypes he was locked into from the start of his career. Yes, his body transformation is herculean and visceral. But it’s the way that he walks, the way he talks, and the way he can shrink himself in the presence of his father but grow 10 feet tall standing next to his brothers.

As the film goes forward, you can see his body hollowing out. His identity, his love, and his heart are carved from his body with each subsequent traumatizing event. All until he is a shell, rebuilding himself for his family only, pushing back against the cursed weight of the Von Erich name. Efron’s performance is as riveting as it is gutting. Having changed himself physically to an unrecognizable state to embody the time period in pro wrestling, it’s not his physique that holds your attention, but his deeply emotional performance of a conditioned stoicism breaking inch by inch as he attempts to hold onto brothers until he can’t anymore. Efron gives a layered portrayal of loss and trauma that ends in a cycle-breaking catharsis.

At the same time, The Iron Claw raises the question: how much pain is too much pain on screen? For filmgoers, particularly during Awards season, it seems the depressing or traumatic biopics tend to always take home the statues. Tragedy makes awards, and while the story of the Von Erichs is its own level of prolific, to see that much cascading tragedy stuck with me on the ride home from the theater, sitting in my heart longer than I anticipated. While I wouldn’t call our draw to tragedy voyeuristic, it is something I truly do not understand. The depth of grief in The Iron Claw calls this all into question for me in a way I haven’t thought of in some time.

The Iron Claw is an astounding, emotional mountain. Stunning in pacing, editing, and acting, this look into a tragic life too painful to believe is true makes its audience feel every single moment of it in a nearly unimaginable way.

The Iron Claw is available now on VOD.