Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Ah, the tragedy that is the Von Erich family and its namesake curse that rippled through the history of professional wrestling. It was only a matter of time before the sad parade of events that changed the fates of four wrestling brothers (led by their former pro father, Fritz Von Erich) was turned into a film and that time has come. Sean Durkin (of Martha Marcy May Marlene fame) has now made The Iron Claw: an expansive look at the rise and fall of the Von Erich brothers under the suffocating leadership of Fritz. The title is appropriate not just because it represents the finishing move Fritz used in the wrestling ring (where he would clutch the forehead of a pinned-down opponent to the point of agony), but because it also covers the stranglehold he had on his own family and its wellbeing. As a professional, Fritz never actually won the national title, and it was something that bothered him forever. With multiple sons, he saw multiple opportunities for the championship belt to make it to the Von Erich household. Thus, he forces them to train and train to the point of exhaustion and illness, he gaslights them into living a cultish, family life where the sons can’t say “no” to him, and he forces his sons to compete for his attention by ranking them in order from worst to best child. Ouch. It’s worth noting that it’s more than likely that none of his sons wanted to become wrestlers and that this outcome was shoehorned into their lives by their controlling father who couldn’t stop chasing a fleeting dream of glory.

The film does a great job of instilling the awful nature of Fritz’s parenting style, even if it resulted in four professional children; every single one of them was pushed too far, as can be seen in The Iron Claw (so was Chris Von Erich, who was shockingly not even included in the film). His sons may have adopted his signature move in the ring, but they strive to be nothing like their dad (despite how much his favouritism does destroy their psyche). However, The Iron Claw does have its ebbs and flows much like a wrestling match. There are times when it is exciting, shocking, and riveting. There are also those moments where the film struggles a bit as it lays down after a major blow. Examples of The Iron Claw’s flaws include the speed at which the beginning of “the Von Erich curse” and its subsequent events transpire, which feels both like a prolonged montage and a Wikipedia entry of what happened. The film needed to devote more time to these moments especially because of how tragic they all are. These aren’t just things that happened. These were the many ways that a family slowly disintegrated. They matter enough to not be glossed over.

*The Iron Claw* has enough compassion to iron out its narrative flaws.

Then there’s Fritz himself, who is well acted by Holt McCallany but who is written so flatly that we never see him as the father or husband that his family couldn’t scrub out of their minds. We only see the manipulative monster that used his children as pawns for his own gain. We as the audience needed to be lured as well to see the tactics utilized on his own flesh and blood to best fathom how he pulled it off. We need to understand how he got his way outside of his iron-fisted parenting alone. Villains or antagonists in any story should never be this simplified, as in “this person is bad because they are bad”. Most bad people believe they are doing something good, and that’s kind of missing here in a character that is based on a very much real person. In general, this and some of the major events of the film all stem from the biggest problem: The Iron Claw was made with the mindset that you already know what happened to the Von Erichs. As a result, it glosses over some elements that feel crucial to this bigger picture. That is never the way to go with a film. Always go the distance and tell the full story no matter how well-known it is; if you are making a film about it, you must feel as though there’s something worth telling in your way, regardless of how familiar it always is. Convince us of that.

Where The Iron Claw does just that is with the compassion it has for the Von Erich sons. All of the performances, from the expected (Jeremy Allen White as the suffering Kerry Von Erich) to the surprising (Zac Efron at his undeniable best as the mistreated and used Kevin Von Erich), bring this puzzling, corrosive family portrait to life. While the film itself isn’t as grittily made as one may think (it feels quite conventional and refined with its editing, shots, and sound and music implementation), all of the visceral nature of the film comes from the performances, as everyone in the cast went all-in (be it with the convincing wrestling moves, the committed emotional sequences, or even the moments that humanize wrestling royalty).

The Iron Claw is well written allegorically (when you consider the horrifying dismantling of the American family through the continual chase of the illusionary dream) but a bit slight when it comes to the actual retelling of an unfortunate, real-life series of circumstances. We get by via the heart of the film which feels purely electrifying. Wrestling itself is scripted, and sometimes the writing can be questionable. We buy into wrestling because of the performances, the charm, and the passion. That’s exactly what you get with The Iron Claw (well, the screenwriting is a lot better than questionable even with its missteps). Whether you know what’ll happen or not, The Iron Claw will give you one hell of a show. Even if you don’t get whisked away by the story, you’ll feel every ounce of it.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.