The Iron Claw might be one of the more depressing movies of the year. But it does a phenomenal job of showing how tragedy affects everyone differently and similarly.
The Iron Claw (2023) is not just a sports movie; it’s not just a wrestling movie; it’s not just a biopic; and it’s not just a family movie. It tackles all of the subjects and does them all very well. The matter-of-affect type of storytelling ofThe Iron Claw (2023) is brutal, harsh, and very entertaining. It feels grounded in reality and seems to do a good job of presenting a decent amount of facts along with some fiction. The true meaning of the film is up in the air for me, but I feel like it is something that I will understand with multiple viewings.
The Iron Claw (2023) was made by A24, which is one of my favorite film studios at the moment. A24 seems to be at the center of most drama and art-house films. They also have a great catalog of horror films that always seem to get people talking. The Iron Claw (2023) is no different, as it continues with the unique storytelling approach that A24 offers.
The way it is filmed is very gritty and grimy, but still beautiful in a strange way. The Iron Claw (2023) is at times in your face with its cinematography, or it’s closed in and very tight with the cinematography. Unique cinematography is also something that A24 films seem to do a lot of.
The story of The Iron Claw (2023) follows the infamous story of the Von Erich brothers. You have our main character, Kevin Von Eric, who is played by Zac Efron. He’s an interesting casting choice, but I believe that this is Zac Efron‘s best acting performance yet. He’s come a long way since “High School Musical” and “Hairspray”. Zac Efron has begun to do more dramatic performances. He caught a lot of attention for his performance as Ted Bundy, in the film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile”. I wish he got a nomination for this role at the Golden Globes.
But this time, his performance as Kevin Vaughn Eric in The Iron Claw (2023) shows that he can be a leading man in drama films. Not only does he knock it out of the park with his acting, but he also looks the part as well. Zac Efron gained a ton of muscle mass and looks like a wrestler would.
Alongside Zac Efron, we have Jeremy Allen White, who plays Kerry Von Eric in The Iron Claw (2023). Jeremy Allen White is a very popular actor at the moment due to his show “The Bear” being one of the biggest shows right now. One of my favorite performances in the film is Holt Mccallany as the father, Fritz Bon Erich.
The story goes that Fritz von Eric used to be a very popular wrestler. He had his signature move, called the iron claw. Eventually, Fritz Von Eric retired and started his own wrestling company. At that wrestling company, he began to coach his sons as they became wrestlers. He had multiple sons, and, in the film, there’s one of his sons who is not even included in The Iron Claw (2023).
Holt McCallany plays the role so well that I begin to hate the father. I know him from Mind Hunter being one of the main detectives in that show. But in this, he plays a horrible father, in my opinion. Not horrible as an actor, but horrible as in the kind of character he is. Regardless of whether this is all true or not, the father treated his kids like a coach would instead of how a father would, and not necessarily the best coach either. These kinds of films are hard to watch and tough to deal with, which might be one of the few complaints I have but mostly that comes down to preference.
Throughout the film, we see Fritz use his kids as a way to relive his former glory as a wrestler. He has goals set for them, and when one of them achieves them, he shows more attention to that particular son and seems to barely care about the others. So there’s a constant battle between the brothers to be the one that their father cares for the most. This becomes interesting because one of the brothers, Mike Von Eric, doesn’t even wrestle at the start of the film. He’s more of a musician and kind of the black sheep of the group. This affects him a lot.
Rounding out this stellar cast, we also have Lily James, who plays Pam, the love interest of our main character, Kevin Von Eric. She does a phenomenal job as a good old country girl. She also has a lasting impact on the film, showing the importance of family as they get married later on. She’s one of the more relatable characters, seeing as she doesn’t blindly follow whatever Fritz says. She is the voice of Kevin in the film most of the time. Once they begin their family and have a son, they start to realize the importance of that. A lot of this happens when, unfortunately, the brothers begin to pass away, causing a strange domino effect.
That brings me to one of the more crucial storylines in the film. This is somewhat of a spoiler if you are unfamiliar with the true story of the brothers. It seems the first fourth or half of the film is setting up the characters and their goals. But one of the brothers passes away suddenly. It becomes depressing very quickly because all of the brothers seem to take this very harshly.
Their father and mother take it in a very interesting way. The mother seems to not give any advice to the kids or help them at all. Then we have their father, who tells him just to move on. They have little to no time to grieve over their brother’s death. They are all around the same age, so of course they grew up together, and this is very tragic. Their father even goes so far as to say not to cry at the funeral. After the first brother dies, a Domino effect is created.
They all seem to eventually die tragically over the next couple of years. Some by suicide, and some by bringing on medical issues. But it becomes more and more tragic, and it weighs more and more on Kevin as he begins to be one of the last ones standing. We see the film mostly through Kevin’s eyes; he seems to be neutral in most matters of the family. He does what he’s supposed to, but he is sometimes overlooked by his father, and his other brothers get better opportunities. But as time goes on, the brothers pass away, and the opportunities seem to come their way more.
They talk about it in The Iron Claw (2023), but it’s considered that there is a curse on the Von Eric family. When Kevin has his first child, he changes his last name so that the curse won’t be bestowed upon him. This is very interesting, as all of the brothers eventually passed away, minus Kevin. They all died tragically, which in The Iron Claw (2023) is done in a very respectable yet tragic manner. This film will pull at your heartstrings and also show the harsh realities of grief.
All the brothers tried to deal with grief, but their father didn’t let him. You can blame their father for each of their respective deaths, as he pushed him too far, like cattle, and didn’t let him deal with tragedy correctly. One thing I love about the film is the way they show all the evidence. We don’t see exactly why they do all the things they do.
We just see what happens, and we have to deduce why the brothers decided to take their own lives. Of course, you can note that down just to be overly depressed due to the tragedy, but each of the characters has their reasons and demons as it seems in The Iron Claw (2023).
At the end of The Iron Claw (2023), we are presented with debatably the best scene. Kevin can finally shed a tear for his fallen brothers. In the whole film, he doesn’t cry at all, and he barely grieves. But once he’s with his kids, he can’t help but break down. Kevin admits to missing having brothers, and his kids say that they could be his brothers.
We are left on the somber note that there is hope since he has kids of his own. That he is not left with nothing. What I deduct from this is being able to grieve appropriately. We see each brother cope with something else instead of grieving. Some do drugs, some drink, some drive fast cars, and some push themselves too hard physically. We all need to grieve, and we all need to feel emotion, even if we are big, strong wrestlers.
