Ivan Radford | On 14, Apr 2024

Director: Sean Durkin
Cast: Zac Efron, Holt McCallany, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons, Maura Tierney, Lily James
Certificate: 15

“The rankings can change,” Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) tells his sons at the breakfast table, right after he’s told them which one of them is his favourite. It’s a casually bruising comment that Fritz delivers with matter-of-fact pride, and it sets the tone for Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw.

The wrestling drama, based on the real life Von Erich family, recounts the sporting dynasty – a dynasty fashioned by Fritz in his own image. A former world champion, as his time in the ring comes to an end, he pushes his boys to follow in his footsteps and live up to his reputation and, more importantly, his expectations. He teaches his sons to push themselves to the limit, to train hard without pause and to break their own bodies to make them stronger. There’s a tragedy at the heart of that drive to be invulnerable – his youngest son, Jack Jr, died as a child – but it only paves the way for more tragedy, to the point where the Von Erich’s family is said to be cursed.

Sean Durkin, who has two gems under his belt with The Nest and Martha Marcy May Marlene, is a master of mood. Here, he pitches the family drama somewhere between brutal sports contest and gothic horror; a black-and-white opening sets the tone for a film in which everything is a shade of grey, but painted with blood, sweat and tears, with the emphasis on the blood. Not since Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler has the sport been given such a raw treatment on screen, and Durkin leans into each blow with unflinching intensity – like the Von Erich’s, we’re soon experiencing a world of pain.

The Von Erich boys themselves move in and out of the spotlight. Kevin (Zac Efron) is the initial focus of Fritz’s ambitions, but he’s overshadowed by David (the always-charismatic Harris Dickinson), who is a natural crowd-pleaser and more confident on camera. Their thunder is jointly stolen by Olympian Kerry (a soulful Jeremy Allen White) who pivots from the Games to the ring when the tournament is boycotted. In between them is the fragile Mike (Stanley Simons), who is much happier when trying to follow his own dreams of becoming a musician. The cast don’t always get the chance to leave an impression individually, but that feeling aptly matches their father’s own attentions and affections. Together, though, they are uniformly superb, creating an ensemble with a connection that’s instantly believable and repeatedly heartbreaking.

Zac Efron clearly relishes a role to sink his teeth into, and his bulging veins and chiselled physique are beautifully balanced with a vulnerability and honesty that’s completely disarming – his scenes with Lily James’ Pam, who almost appoints herself as his girlfriend, are full of insight and tiny touches that draw out Kevin’s personality.

The star of the show, though, in many ways is Holt McCallany as the formidable Fritz. After his excellent work in Netflix’s Mindhunter, it’s a treat to see him get such a meaty part to showcase his talents, and he brings so much nuance to a patriarch who could have been a one-note villain. He’s horribly flawed in his toxic masculinity, but McCallany digs into the roots of that philosophy – behind every cross-armed stare is the fear, the self-doubt and the desperate hope that his boys’ success will somehow retrospectively redeem him.

The result is an often unsettling and highly moving study of loyalty, love and loss. It joins Durkin’s growing catalogue of explorations of poisonous authority figures, but The Iron Claw has more sentiment than his previous two films, finding the discipline and brotherly bond underneath the repressed tragedy – and a strength that goes beyond the physical power on display. It’s a saga with real emotional heft.

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