Zac Efron in The Iron Claw (A24)

The Iron Claw is a different kind of sports biopic. For one, it highlights a family of wrestlers. Also, as in Rocky, the story is not about the title fight, but the struggle and commitment to get there. Unlike Rocky, this is no crowd-pleaser, and I don’t mean that as a criticism. The Iron Claw is a complex beast—and quite a satisfying film.

It follows the travails of the Von Erich family. Patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany) was a popular wrestler in the 1960s who never quite attained the heights of fame he desired. The film grabs its title from Fritz’s signature move, where he presses his fingers on an opponent’s skull and forces him to the mat. He passes his knowledge and drive onto his sons, particularly the eldest, Kevin (Zac Efron), the most driven and ambitious of the bunch and clearly Dad’s favorite, although that can change at any moment, as Fritz reminds them at the breakfast table. This comes across as a laugh line but becomes deadly serious later as each of the sons’ cravings for their father’s approval leads to disappointment or tragedy.

The first third feels sun-kissed as we watch the daily life of this family, which seems deeply isolated in their own world. The boys spend their days helping on the farm they live on or tubing down the river to an exuberant Tom Petty song, and at night, they fight in the local wrestling arena, which the family owns, before ecstatic local fans. Their life looks blessed and writer/director Sean Durkin (The Nest) films it with a warm sheen and a meandering storyline that takes it time, so much so that you can barely detect the creeping dread that slinks in from the edge of the screen.

You see, there is a rumor of a family curse. The oldest son died in a freak accident when Kevin was young. The youngest son, Mike (Stanley Simons), wants to be a musician and has no interest in muscling up, and is constantly being ridiculed by his father. When Kevin takes his concerns that his dad is too hard on Mike to his mother (a subdued and spectacular Maura Tierney), he is told the matter is only between Mike and his dad. And after Kevin loses a match on his way to a title belt, Fritz passes him over and tells his other son David (Harris Dickinson) that it is now his turn to fight for the championship. There is no pushing back. Fritz has created this world, and they all live in it.

Eventually, tragedy after tragedy strikes, and Kevin feels helpless to stop it. He won’t sleep in the same house as his wife, Pam (Lily James), and their infant son because he is worried he will bring the family curse upon them. As an audience, we see the culprit quite clearly. Durkin zeros in on the inability of an abused family to recognize their abuser. Kevin is the only person who comes close, and even he can’t stare at the sun too long before looking away.

Fritz created a world that worked perfectly for everyone, if it worked perfectly for him. Fritz isn’t physically abusive, but his will is so strong and his desire to create a wrestling dynasty so total that he cannot see anything else. This makes him the driving force, but it also makes him a bit of a one-dimensional supervillain. It is one of the few glaring errors here. What the film does incredibly well is to really zero in on the bond between the brothers. They are a universe unto themselves. A lesser film would focus on the conflict between them. Here the drama comes from how much they love and support and care for each other in spite of the hyper competitive environment they were brought up in.

The Iron Claw has a lot on its mind. It isn’t merely a biopic but an examination of how familial love can sustain one in the darkest times, even when the devil is a part of the family. It is also about freedom. Everything the Von Erich brothers did was for their father. It is only when Kevin does something for himself that he can feel free.