The industry of professional wrestling has faced zero shortage of tragedy, but the real-life story of the Von Erich family is the hardest hitting of them all. Director Sean Durkin has brought the story to the big screen in “The Iron Claw” to put your heart in a headlock. The film withholds a star-studded cast consisting of Zac Efron (Kevin Von Erich), Jeremy Allen White (Kerry Von Erich), Harris Dickinson (David Von Erich), and Stanley Simons (Mike Von Erich) to portray the four brothers spotlighted.
Professional wrestling is a hard business to replicate which is why professional wrestling fans appreciate the crew emphasizing the importance of doing the sport justice; to assist in replicating the sport, they hired former All Elite Wrestling (AEW) World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) to produce the film and hired pro wrestling legend Chavo Guerrero Jr. to coordinate the stunts taken when displaying the in-ring action.
The Von Erich family was often referred to as a cursed family as tragedy continuously would strike them as setback after setback would pain the family, slowly tearing them apart from what they valued most. Brotherhood. The film follows the four brothers as they try to reach the expectations set on them by their father and former wrestler Fritz Von Erich to achieve the dream he never lived, becoming a world champion. When the brothers are unable to live up to the expectations in the way their father hoped, it would ultimately lead to their self-destruction.
The film shines brightest through the performances from the cast, particularly in Zac Efron who plays the brother we follow the most in the film, Kevin Von Erich. The actors connect with the audience to a point where you can feel their pain and cannot help but sympathize with them, hoping and praying that they can find their happy ending. It is hard not to love the brothers as their love and care for each other is undeniable. They all want to see each other succeed and be happy which makes it heartbreaking to witness the hardships they face and how they struggle through it.
They find this balance to make it easy for non-wrestling fans to be able to be treated to while also allowing wrestling fans to fall in love with film purely based on its care to capture professional wrestling the right way. The in-ring action and presentation of 1980s professional wrestling was encapsulated beautifully as a life-long wrestling fan who either grew up with this era or has watched videos of it can feel the nostalgia and excitement of these scenes. It is vividly clear that the cast and crew took the time to understand wrestling which only fuels more reason to love “The Iron Claw”.
However, the film is not without its flaws as it has poor recreations of other wrestling figures such as Ric Flair as fans who know the wrestler can find the performances to be laughable at best. Additionally, Sean Durkin made the decision to leave out crucial aspects of the Von Erich story as their brother Chris Von Erich is nowhere to be seen nor mentioned in the runtime. It leaves poor taste in the mouth of a viewer who is aware as these are real people who deserve to be mentioned in a story filled with horrifically saddening moments.
While the film may not be perfect, it is hard not to love every second of it as the love and care put towards the film is apparent. As a life-long professional wrestling fan, this movie holds a special place in my heart. The story of the Von Erich Family is a story that sticks, and tears are almost guaranteed. “Dad tried to protect us with wrestling. He said if we were the toughest, the strongest, nothing could ever hurt us. I believed him. We all did.” ★★★★★/★★★★★