The Von Erich’s are a staple name in professional wrestling for any fan who grew up watching their high-flying athletic antics of this family during the 1980s. A WWE Hall of Fame wrestling family, who despite their immense success in the ring, were tormented by tragedy outside of the squared circle.
Filmmaker Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene) has stated that he grew up a wrestling fan himself and was adamant in making the Von Erich’s story into a film. After an almost 7-year process of research and creating the right perspective to tell this tragic tale, Durkin’s script caught the interest of production company A24, who are no strangers when it comes to making riveting content that might get looked over by a larger studio. But the script also managed to convince Zac Efron, who’s work in drama previously has been outshone by his more Hollywood-star type roles, to tackle one of the most challenging performances of his career, both mentally and physically.
Most audiences had no idea what to expect when set photos from The Iron Claw were released showing an inhumanly buff Efron on the set of this 1980s wrestling film from A24, but those who knew of the Von Erich’s were preparing themselves for a heart-breaking story of loss, all centred around a group of brothers who loved each other immensely, their strictly disciplined father and coach, and the curse they believed was on their family name.
In 1979, Kevin von Erich (Zac Efron) was the hot commodity of the WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling), a wrestling company owned by his father Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), with Kevin fast tracking his way to a wrestling career outside of Texas. However, when Kevin’s younger brother, David (Harris Dickinson), gets his chance to shine in the ring, Fritz’s focus to push Kevin’s career further shifts towards David, who is now the new rising star natural talent in the WCCW, a showcase of Fritz’s mentality in creating winners, even if it tarnishes a relationship with his son.
After the United States boycotted going to Russia for the 1980s Olympics due to the ongoing conflicts at that time, Kerry Von Erich (Jeremy Allen White) returns to the family farm with a burning desire to find a new avenue of competitive nature, thus leading Fritz to create a wrestling trio involving the three brothers, who went on to take the wrestling scene by storm during the 1980s. Unfortunately, cast to the side by there father, but unabashedly loved by his brothers, is the youngest Von Erich brother, Mike (Stanley Simons), who’s passion for music makes him an outcast in the eyes of his stern and toxic father.
What follows these events in The Iron Claw is a truly heartbreaking tale. It’s not necessarily an easy film to recommend for “cinematic escapism”. The Iron Claw is absolutely a movie you choose to watch because you’re in the mood for an incredibly difficult to watch, but amazingly put together film, that certainly has confronting scenes, but at its core is a beautiful story about the unbreakable bond of brotherhood, and the excruciating feeling of masculine love, and lost love, especially between family members.
Everything from Sean Durkin’s relentlessly authentic portrayal of the Von Erich’s to his gorgeous direction, and arguably the most captivating element, the outstanding, award-worthy performances from every single cast member in this film, makes The Iron Claw one of the best films of the last year.
While the second half of The Iron Claw deals with the more tragic elements of the Von Erich’s life, there is such a strong feeling throughout the story that the brothers truly loved each other with all their hearts. Even during Kevin’s struggles with his career, and the unfair pressure from his father causing immense feelings of inadequacy during those times, the love given and reciprocated in this brotherhood is the most emotionally redeeming aspect of this film. Every hug, every smile, even every body slam the brother with each other, is beaming with the unexplainable force of masculine love, something that isn’t always easy to authentically portray on screen. And while Durkin’s script and choosing to tell this story through the perspective of Kevin Von Erich is a big reason for that feeling, it only truly works because of how dedicated the actors are to their characters, the film, and the moving source material that is being recreated.
The looming presence of intimidation and fear personified fires directly out of the screen from Holt McCallany as Fritz Von Erich – a man who is a tortured soul but is from an era where that wasn’t acceptable to show. With a wrestling career of his own cut short, the inevitability of a man with as much pride as Fritz forcing his dream onto his sons is painfully relatable, but it’s his ability to pick and choose the son he’s most prideful of in an instance, with no consideration for being an emotionally caring father to his sons that hurts the most. Seeing that completely opposing level of emotion from Fritz to the immense love shown between the Von Erich brothers is so necessarily jarring. Adding on top of that, the fact that he believes his family name is cursed, and imposing that fear onto his sons exacerbates that feeling of control he has over them.
Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson are two actors who are making incredible decisions with their careers over the last few years, and The Iron Claw will be noted in the history books as another step in the right direction of becoming some of the greatest performers working today. Dickinson’s charm and natural ability to embellish himself in the role of “wrestler David Von Erich” is thoroughly entertaining, and his quieter, more sombre moments, especially opposite Efron as they go on their wrestling journey together show a spectrum of performance that is incredible. And Jeremy Allen White is able to bring an athletically intense personality to Kerry Von Erich that is ever so different to the intensity we’ve some from him in things like The Bear. It’s also Kerry’s story arc in The Iron Claw that is arguably the most tragic, and watching White spiral during this performance pulls so violently at the heartstrings, that it is truly unbearable to watch at times. Not too mention, the physicality of both actors is unbelievable, with body transformations and pro-wrestling training paying of in an aesthetic sense.
Which of course goes without saying is an even more noticeable trait of Zac Efron. His physical transformation is astounding and hyper-masculine. Efron often juxtaposes that stereotypical macho-man look with what is his most emotional vulnerable performance ever, and quite frankly, his best performance ever. Efron’s ability to tell the audience through his acting that he is a man who loves wrestling, wants to be the best at what he does, loves his brothers unconditionally, respects his father as coach, loathes his father as a parent, desires to be loved by his girlfriend, and is broken by his disjointed journey to his dream, is so incredibly nuanced, and is a travesty that it’s being overlooked during the current awards season. Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich is undoubtedly the emotional core of this film, and his devastating final scene will bring a tear to even the most hardened of souls.
The Iron Claw may rip your heart out and stamp on it a few times throughout this tragic retelling of the Von Erich’s story. However, at its core is a genuinely beautiful tale of the unexplainable bond between brothers who genuinely loved each other, despite their emotionally traumatic lives. The physicality and emotionality of the performances are truly incredibly, but it’s Zac Efron who has given everything he has to the best role of his career and is going to solidify him as not just a pretty face in Hollywood anymore, but an actor who understand the importance of dedicating himself to a story worth telling, of which The Iron Claw absolutely is.
The Iron Claw is in Australian cinemas January 18, courtesy of Roadshow films.
