Generations of the Von Erich family were known as exciting professional wrestlers, and their heyday was decades before long-suffering wrestling fan David Willis went viral for exclaiming, “It’s still real to me, dammit!” The new sports drama The Iron Claw may show some of the “fake” parts of wrestling, like athletes planning a script before they go into the ring, and yet writer/director Sean Durkin treats the sport with solemnity.
Yes, wrestlers are entertainers more than they are athletes, and yet there is real risk and pain when they hurl themselves onto the rope or against each other. By treating wrestling seriously, Durkin is able to explore his true subjects: generational trauma, and the trappings of toxic masculinity. After spending time with the Von Erichs, it is easy to understand why their chosen vocation was never all that fun for any of them.
The patriarch to the Von Erich family is Fritz (Holt McCallany), a former wrestler who spends his retirement tending to resentments he can barely articulate. He never realized his dream to be champion, and so he transfers his aspirations to his sons, all of whom yearn for his love or acceptance. Kevin (Zac Efron) and David (Harris Dickinson) are already rising through the ranks of their local league, although the addition of their other brother Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) heightens their celebrity. At first, Kerry was supposed to be an Olympic athlete, but once Jimmy Carter announced Team USA would not be participating in the 1980 games, pro wrestling became his consolation prize. Since the Von Erich’s are already well known in wrestling circles, Kevin is acutely aware of rumors about a “curse” that surrounds his family. He does not believe them, at least until a series of tragedies convince him otherwise.
Durkin last directed the films Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Nest, and while neither showcases athletics, they are intense portrayals of obsession and deep family wounds. You can see why the Von Erich story would interest him, and he wastes no time in showing how Fritz created a terrible situation for his entirely family. In an early scene, Fritz announces his favorite son and ranks the rest, only to explain the standings can always change. Efron and the rest provide the key performances, and they play the Von Erich boys as decent, troubled young men who cannot articulate the holes in their hearts. When Kevin meets and marries Pam (Lily James), a local woman and fan of his, he speaks like a polite altar boy who is petrified by adult conversation. By the time Kevin and David have an honest conversation – framed in a public restroom, shortly after David coughs up blood – we cannot help but wonder what these guys could have achieved with Fritz’s constant interference.
Many sports dramas fall into the typical arc of rise/fall/redemption arc, and if you’re unfamiliar with the story of the Von Erichs, the lengths of that fall are shocking. There are multiple deaths in the family, and each time, Fritz forbids the survivors from grieving publicly. In fact, Durkin declines to include yet another Von Erich brother, who also dies too young, perhaps because another dead young man would be too shocking or too much for audiences to bear. All the actors underplay this harrowing story, with Efron and McCallany as the clear standouts. The wrestling is also convincing, a mix of showy choreography and little details to suggest the daily pain Kevin and the others endured (Durkin is a little fuzzy with the specifics of the sport, as the family drama is his chief concern).
The Iron Claw is so upsetting, such a damning portrayal of a monstrous father, that Durkin has no choice but to film a fictionalized epilogue where he finds a note of happiness for the Von Erichs who do not survive. It is a fantasy, a redemption that the characters do not exactly earn, and yet anyone who sees the film will agree it is necessary. Otherwise, it would all be too painful.
Photo courtesy of A24
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