By H. F. Chacon Jr.
The tragedy of self-destruction is a destination at the end of a brutal route of misery. It is the fact that suicide is a permanent “solution” to otherwise temporary problems that makes us so morbidly engulfed in its mighty struggle within peoples’ minds.
“The Iron Claw,” A24 Studios’ latest film, explores this in one of the greatest performances of 2023.
Make no mistake: one is not required to be interested in the world of wrestling to derive meaning from this film. Surrounding the lives of the Von Erich brothers’ rise and fall in the world of wrestling around the 1980s, “The Iron Claw” demands nothing more than the ability to sympathize with a special familial ambition.
Even if you had not known about the Von Erich brothers, frankly, it is the total obscurity of their story that allows the audience to become immersed in its twists and turns. From beginning to end, “The Iron Claw” swoops down and delivers scene after gut-wrenching scene to make its point.
The bond between siblings can be one of the most priceless treasures a person can ever be privileged with owning. But at the same time, it can be this bond which weighs and pulls every person involved into a chaotic swirl of turmoil.
The other equally important point is the toxicity possible through parental abuse of children caused by envy and hatred. The Von Erich family patriarch, Fritz, is expertly portrayed by Holt McCallany in brutality against his sons unseen in any other movie. His failures in his youth as a wrestler cause him to torture his children into wrestling for his own gain.
The children themselves, broken through the strain of never being good enough for his approval, disturb the audience into tears throughout the portrayal.
The real stars of this picture are Kevin and Kerry Von Erich (Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White), who propel this film close to perfection in its ability to tear up the audience. Beneath the hyper-aesthetic choreography of some 200-odd-pound muscle men flying across rings are real people with emotions deeply bottled up.
To this point, it is clear that “The Iron Claw” is a hit piece on toxic masculinity. The blown up ideas that men are supposed to be indifferent to pain, with shoulders twice as wide as their hips and other unrealistic standards, are unprohibited in this story, crafting a well-designed cautionary tale.
Efron and White’s performances give these ideas their weight. They draw the viewer into their characters’ perspectives, desires, dreams, and insecurities, only to pummel the viewer into an emotional puddle of tears. This should be praised as some of the best acting of the year.
I sincerely hope this film will be remembered beyond its box-office run for its true care for the medium. Though it is not likely that it will be given much attention as the many cash cows that Hollywood released last calendar year, “The Iron Claw” should stand among them as one of the best films of 2023, and perhaps even the decade so far.
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