Good news, wrestling fans (and those who just enjoy a good cry with their popcorn). If you've been searching for a great wrestling film, then dust off your championship belts, because The Iron Claw has just body-slammed its way onto Netflix. Prepare yourselves for a film that's less about the suplex and more about wrestling with your soul.
Directed and written by Sean Durkin, this emotionally searing biographical drama dives deep into the bittersweet world of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty. Think "family drama" meets "sweaty muscles" meets "why is my nose running?"
It’s a tale of brothers, ambition, tragedy, and a lot of baby oil.
Released in 2023 to critical acclaim, The Iron Claw features Zac Efron doing more than just flexing his muscles with a performance that generated plenty of awards buzz...
We're talking more than just a six-pack; we're talking about a man trying to hold together what fame and fate keep tearing apart. It’s a film that explores the limits of human endurance in the face of stress and pain. The film was named a National Board of Review Top-10 film of 2023, and on Rotten Tomatoes, it boasts critic scores in the high 80s, with audiences echoing strong approval.
Empire said this in its five-star review: “As a collective cast, the four actors are exceptional, making every word of their sparse dialogue count, and imbuing their on-screen brotherly bond with warmth and sincerity that stands firm against their father’s hardened methods of parenting.”
The Guardian were also hot on the film, giving it four stars stating: “The tragicomic spectacle of American wrestling, with all its poignant pantomime machismo and showbiz fury, is the subject of Sean Durkin’s deeply sad, odd true-life drama based on the case of the Von Erich family – like the Von Trapp family, only with a ’roid rage death wish.”
If you didn’t believe the rest of the reviews, The Independent also gave the film four stars adding “In The Iron Claw, the tragedy is in the detail, and in an audience’s queasy feelings of intuition when it comes to how sad stories tend to play out. Efron, White, Dickinson and Simons render grief in all its shades. But it’s Efron, his outrageously muscled body made beatific with a Joan of Arc bowl cut, who softens the film’s harder knocks with a performance of disarming tenderness.”
While Darren Aronofsky's 2008 classic, The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke, remains the undisputed champion of wrestling-focussed movies, The Iron Claw carves out its place. In layman's terms: prepare for some impressive wrestling moves, followed by a sudden urge to hug your loved ones. So, grab your tissues and your wrestling buddies, because this emotional knockout is now streaming in the comfort of your own home.
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