In 1953, Fritz Von Erich, also known as Jack Adkinson debuted in his first professional wrestling match, later creating one of the most impactful and successful family dynasties in wrestling history. His four sons, Kevin, David, Kerry and Mike went on to wrestle in tag-teams, single competition and many championship competitions for many years. However, the Von Erich family didn’t always consist of fame and fortune.
Director and screenplay writer Sean Durkin has been a fan of professional wrestling since his youth and began research on the Von Erich family in 2015 to write a screenplay for a biographical sports drama film. On December 22, 2023 “The Iron Claw” was released and has made 24 million dollars at the box office so far. The movie was produced by A24 and has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie does a spectacular job of depicting the Curse that haunts the Von Erich family. The film stars Zac Effron, Jeremy Allen White, Maxwell Jacob Freidman and many others.
The movie starts with Fritz in a wrestling match using his game winning move ‘the iron claw’ against his opponent. It later shows his sons grown up and bonding in the true ways of brotherhood. Kevin Von Erich, played by Zac Efron, is the protector/ comforting older brother who tries to keep his younger brothers away from their fathers different forms of abuse and the “family curse.”
The younger brothers are later shown jumping into the wrestling world with little preparation on the physical and mental toll that the industry can take on them. Eventually, the strain catches up and creates more downs than ups.
Junior Jaidon Moore states, “I would honestly say it’s one of my favorite movies. I had no idea what the movie was about besides wrestling before going in. The plot was amazing and the acting was top tier.”
The actors do a great job portraying the true gruesome reality that came with professional wrestling and the impact of their fathers influence on each other. The setting of the 70s and 80s helped put the movie into perspective of the time period; The hair, outfits and wrestling attire illustrated a very similar style as in real life.
In my opinion, the only bad part of the movie was the casting. The actors were amazing in their roles, but the size and height of Kevin and Kerry are very different from the actors.
Overall, the movie was truly enthralling. I would suggest for everyone to give it a chance, even if you aren’t a wrestling fan.
