Sean Durkin’s first film, Martha Marcy May Marlene, was about the complex aftermath of one woman’s escape from a modern Manson-esque “family” centered around sex and drug use. His second, 2020’s The Nest, looked at a high-society couple in 1980s Britain who buy a mansion and are subsequently haunted by the decision, struggling to stay above water as the property sucks up all of their money. Both movies were immersed in an atmosphere of gloom and anxiety that somehow didn’t overwhelm either; even as Durkin tormented his characters, he had real, obvious love for them.
That’s exactly what makes his newest work, the wrestling drama The Iron Claw, such a triumph. The Iron Claw is, like many films released in the lead-up to the Oscar nominations, based on a true story. It chronicles the lives of the Von Erich brothers, professional wrestlers who were mentored by their tough-love father, rose to fame in 1980s Texas, and were eventually plagued by tragedy. Usually, these biographical movies lean into the drama, exaggerating the shocking stuff for the big screen. The story of the Von Erich family is almost unbelievably tragic, however, as five out of six brothers met an early death, several by suicide. Durkin even removed one of the real-life brothers from his script, deciding (correctly) that one more death would be too much for audiences to take.
I realize that doesn’t make The Iron Claw sound like a tempting choice this Christmas season. But it is the kind of big, weepy, macho film that just doesn’t get made much anymore, a soaring power ballad that should prompt a lot of loud sniffling in the theater. Durkin is a somewhat challenging, arty filmmaker whose prior films left many things unspoken; The Iron Claw is more broadly appealing without losing anything that makes his work so unique. It’s rich with feeling, shrouded in darkness, but not despairing as it digs into the trials the Von Erichs faced, without merely dismissing the family as cursed.
The notion of a family curse is baked into the brothers’ lives from birth. Their father, Fritz Von Erich (played by Holt McCallany, a walking cinder block sporting a permanent scowl), was named Jack Adkisson in real life but took the “Von Erich” pseudonym because his initial wrestling character was a villainous Nazi, an easy figure for postwar audiences to boo. When the film opens, in the late ’70s, Fritz has already lost his first son at the age of 6 in a freak accident; his second son, Kevin (a beefed-up Zac Efron), is thus expected to follow his dad into the family business, and quickly becomes something of a local legend around Dallas.
Fritz is fond of informing his sons which of them is his current favorite, running down his list at the breakfast table while reminding them, “The rankings can always change.” Durkin summons a grunting alpha nightmare environment, a hothouse of muscle-bound teens and 20-somethings all vying for the attention of their stony father and icy, remote mother, Doris (a magnificent Maura Tierney). Along with Kevin, there’s Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), a potential Olympic discus thrower who gets diverted to the family business after the American boycott of the 1980 Games; David (Harris Dickinson), who has a particular flair for the sport’s showy dramatics; and Mike (Stanley Simons), a moon-eyed musician who is roped in out of sheer familial obligation.
To wrestling nerds, the Von Erichs have a titanic legacy, and Durkin does his best to represent that by exploring the sport’s crunchy, amateurish pre-corporate age, when regional live events were the big moneymakers and television was largely ignored. Yes, the fights are scripted, but the athleticism is real and punishing. More important, as Kevin reminds the audience early on, a fighter could only succeed in the ring if the audience (and, by extension, Fritz) loved what they were doing. The Iron Claw manages a tricky balance, depicting the ups and downs of everyone’s careers and acknowledging the required showmanship, but without getting too much into the behind-the-scenes politics.
The real drama of The Iron Claw, obviously, is the awful fates of the Von Erich children, a swirling combination of bad luck, possible substance abuse, likely undiagnosed depression, and very, very lousy parenting. Although Dickinson is effortlessly charming and White brings the fiery intensity viewers will associate with his performance in The Bear, it’s Efron, as the ostensible top dog Kevin, who is burdened with the film’s big dramatic arc. Kevin is not the brightest and possibly not even the most talented of the Von Erichs, but he is the most well adjusted, and Durkin charts his difficult journey to realizing the poisonous circumstances of his upbringing.
Efron is very talented given the right material—he’s a charming doofus in the Neighbors films, and appropriately emo in the DJ dramedy We Are Your Friends. His work in The Iron Claw feels like a major leap forward, or at least a perfect match of skill and plot. As Kevin’s life drags on and his brothers’ lives are cut sadly short, Efron powerfully demonstrates the character’s perseverance and eventual acceptance that, no, he is not fated to a similarly destructive end. Durkin might be the feel-bad filmmaker of the decade, and I mean that in the best way possible: He can depict tragedy with sensitivity and grace, and somehow not let his films be overwhelmed by their darkest moments.