Sean Durkin’s A24 drama The Iron Claw, based on the true story of a legendary family of pro wrestlers, revives a great American Christmas tradition: opening presents under the tree, eating a decadent meal, then driving the whole family to the local movie theater to watch a new prestige-season release that turns out to be the year’s most depressing film. PSA for those planning their holiday family viewing: The Iron Claw is not the overcoming-the-odds sports movie the trailers would have you believe.
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Set in Texas in the 1980s, The Iron Claw tells the infamous tale of the Von Erichs, who have one of the most upsetting Wikipedia entries you’ll ever read. Durkin, who wrote and directed, adapts their lives like a Greek tragedy in spandex, complete with a domineering patriarch and his sons, a clan of would-be champions with a death wish.
Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron) is an up-and-coming pro wrestler with the looks for Playgirl magazine and the amateur acting chops of a two-by-four, which hold him back in a profession that’s rapidly moving from smoky beer halls to national TV. As the oldest living son in the Von Erich family, Kevin plays protector to his younger siblings: charming and theatrical David (Harris Dickinson), would-be Olympian Kerry (The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White), and the youngest, Mike (Stanley
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