The Iron Claw (2023) - A tragic study of brotherhood, grief and toxic masculinity

Credit: allocine.fr

Brotherhood and loss come together in a tight bond in The Iron Claw, Sean Durkin’s drama about the Von Erichs, a family of wrestlers who made history in the early 1980s, first with their mastery, then with their tragedy. It’s an especially dark tale, not for the faint of heart, and almost too unbelievable to be real (Durkin even cut down on true events in order to make the film more palatable). Nevertheless, it is certainly one of the best biopics of recent years, devastating in its portrayal of the Von Erichs and skilful in its treatment of the message at hand.

Zac Efron is Kevin Von Erich, the oldest of the quartet of brothers, quintet if you count the fifth brother, Jack Jr., who died when they were all children (another part of the mosaic of tragedy that is only ever touched upon). The belief is that the Von Erichs are cursed, but their father, Fritz (Holt McCallany), is determined to do everything in his power to erase this from his family line – notably, by working all of his sons to the bone in the competitive world of professional wrestling. Kevin and David (Harris Dickinson) are game, dutifully marching into the ring to honour their father and do him proud, as is Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) when his dreams of becoming a professional discus thrower are cut short by the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. Mind you, it’s not like they have much of a choice. There is no other way in the Von Erich household – the proof is the final son, Mike (Stanley Simons), whose interest in music and disinterest in lifting weights greatly disappoints and aggravates his father. His brothers, too, struggle with the pressure of training, and of their father’s unreasonable expectations. But Fritz is resolute to bring the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, the one he missed out on, back into the Von Erich family, and will stop at nothing, even at the cost of his own sons.

The Iron Claw is a fantastic next step for Efron, who plays Kevin with remarkable sensitivity, pertaining to the fact that he, only, truly, wants to be with his family, whether in the ring or elsewhere. And yet, this is what in many ways tears them apart, as Fritz’s ‘mental iron claw’ grabs a hold of them one after the other. It is a quintessential tale of toxic masculinity, but it also addresses generational pressures with extreme dexterity, as Fritz’s past resurges with each of his sons’ failures. Maura Tierney is also chilling as Doris, their complicit mother whose apparent indifference is negated by the deep suffering behind her eyes. Even when Kevin marries the jovial Pam (Lily James), the relief of the film, it is not long before she, also, is dragged into the mess. The Iron Claw is positively bursting with things left unsaid, or things said too late – it is perhaps in this ability to withhold, and yet to translate so much, that it is so upsettingly efficient.