The Iron Claw, directed by Sean Durkin, follows the Von Erich family, a group of famous professional wrestlers from Texas as they navigate the world of wrestling, as well as dealing with the repercussions of their family curse.

Wow… what a film. I got the opportunity to see this a few weeks early through a random invitation. I was ready to go see a different movie if the line outside was too long. To my surprise, the line was quite short, so I was able to squeeze myself in one of the front rows without having to be stuck too close to anyone else. My expectations were fairly low going into this. Even with the buzz around it, I didn’t expect it to be anywhere towards the top of my 2023 list. I don’t care for sports, and most sports drama only feel generic, which was about how the first half of the film felt, even if it was made extremely well.

The film opens up to an amazing shot in black-and-white as we view what is going to be the family’s inside arena for wresting. As the shot lingers on, Holt McCallany’s face slow fades into screen over the arena. McCallany, the father of the Von Erich family, Fritz Von Erich, stomps on another wrestler in slow motion as a horror-like soundtrack plays in the backdrop. That, within itself, felt very much different than what I had seen before. The tone presented here in the film’s opening moments highlight what is to come for McCallany’s villainous performance. What I appreciate about his performance is how he plays the typical father that pushes their kids further than they should. It gave me some serious Jon Voight vibes from Varsity Blues. While he likes to think he is the hero of his own story, it’s really Zac Efron who is the hero of the story as he does what McCallany’s character is trying to do, but does it far better.

It’s easy to note how magnificent Efron is as the second-oldest son of this family. Truthfully, there is not a single bad, or less than stellar performance. Efron is severely underrated. He does what I have always said about him and his acting abilities and does it on a grander scale. Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons are great in their own right as they round out the rest of the family, playing Efron’s brothers. Allen White continues his streak of great performances. I never really thought he would ever be a star in the making, but he we are. Dickinson is phenomenal and has one of the best performances. Then, there is Simons who plays the youngest brother. While Dickinson is the MVP of the brothers, Simons was heartbreaking, because I have been in those shoes before as being someone different from the family, but also having to deal with the family’s expectations even if he is good at that one thing that makes him an outsider. The throughline between the brother’s bond is rivaled between what McCallany & Efron views them as.

McCallany’s performance as the father really got to me. His performance can be so frustrating, but that’s only because of how real his character is. His character requires McCallany to be in an unforgiving mindset that gives him all the wrong reasons to be a father. He wants his sons to follow in his footsteps, because he failed at reaching the point of success that he wanted out of himself. Whenever one of his sons is about to win big at a competition, he treats it as his win. He also doesn’t care how far his sons have to go to reach success, even if it results in tragedy.

On the other hand, Efron is the caretaker as the oldest son. He’s technically the second oldest in the family, but I won’t spoil how that comes to be. Due to his relationship with his brothers, he knows what they need best to help them reach their own success. As life goes on, Efron channel’s his father’s personality at times as he lets him get to him at times. It’s with the love & support of his other family that he chooses to not make the same mistakes of those before him, which lets him to be an outstanding brother & father.

It’s these performances that make the film work, especially with a first half that doesn’t always feel like it’s going anywhere new. To be honest, I was surprised at the reception that this film was getting during the first half. It’s competently made between the editing, cinematography, and score, but I wasn’t fully into the plot until the second half kicked in. That was when I remembered the tone of the film in its opening minutes as McCallany is seen kicking another wrestler over menacing music. The second half has such a 180 in its story that it reminded me of what Parasite did in its first half. I truly don’t want to give anything away here, because the trailers didn’t even spoil it to me. Just be ready for emotional damage. What is to come is heartbreaking, yet healing.

As mentioned with the film’s beginning, the film manages a unique editing technique with shots slowly fading over others. Mix that with the cinematography and you get a new way at looking at sports dramas. The editing also has some major jump cuts that are quite shocking as they cut over significant moments, yet when the reveal happens, you are just sitting there imagining how it all happen, and that wouldn’t be possible without the convincing performances. Lastly, the film probably wouldn’t have worked at all if it wasn’t for director Sean Durkin. This film will surely put Durkin on the map. Give him 10 years after this and I could see him being on some favorites lists.

Overall, The Iron Claw is a surprisingly emotional movie thanks to nearly every single perfect performance. The tone is drastically different from almost any other sports movie I have ever seen and it works as one that stands out amongst so many others. The mix between horror and emotion creates an effective atmosphere that will surely leave a formidable impression on its viewers.

VERDICT: Amazing