The Iron Claw
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
What critics thought
Sean Durkin's Von Erich family portrait earns broad approval for its performances — Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White in particular — and for the weight it brings to a story most sports biopics would flatten into triumph. The sharper disagreement is structural: several critics felt the film's relentless accumulation of tragedy crowds out the character depth and the sense of joy that made the losses matter, leaving martyrs where fully drawn people should have stood.
“The lost, needy look in his eyes, especially when he's around his father, makes him seem like a frightened lad playing adult dress-up...Efron gets at what drove Kevin: discipline, love, and fear. He anchors the movie”
David Fear·Rolling Stone
“In streamlining their story to emphasize the tragedies that accrue as time goes on, the film risks reducing its characters into martyrs who suffer and die on behalf of toxic masculinity.”
Allison Willmore·Vulture
“When the bad stuff does start happening—and then happens, again and again—it's hard to grasp the central why of it all. Why is this family so doomed, so pained, so self-destructive and unhappy?”
Richard Lawson·Vanity Fair
“It may be that by finally torquing a story about unimaginable loss into that of a mind who finds himself, The Iron Claw errs on the side of uplift. But as acted by Efron, the catharsis feels earned—the euphoric feeling of having broken out of a deathlock, even if only momentarily.”
Adam Nayman·The Ringer
Genres
Biography, Drama, Sport
Cast & Crew
Sean DurkinDirector
Zac EfronKevin Von Erich
Jeremy Allen WhiteKerry Von Erich
Harris DickinsonDavid Von Erich
Stanley SimonsMike Von Erich
Holt McCallanyFritz Von Erich
Maura TierneyDoris Von Erich
Lily JamesPam
Grady WilsonYoung Kevin
Scott InnesRing Announcer
Chavo Guerrero Jr.The Sheik
Garrett HammondSportatorium Referee #1
Richard Reed ParryComposer
Mátyás ErdélyCinematographyFrom the studio
The Iron Claw
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
What critics thought
Sean Durkin's Von Erich family portrait earns broad approval for its performances — Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White in particular — and for the weight it brings to a story most sports biopics would flatten into triumph. The sharper disagreement is structural: several critics felt the film's relentless accumulation of tragedy crowds out the character depth and the sense of joy that made the losses matter, leaving martyrs where fully drawn people should have stood.
“The lost, needy look in his eyes, especially when he's around his father, makes him seem like a frightened lad playing adult dress-up...Efron gets at what drove Kevin: discipline, love, and fear. He anchors the movie”
David Fear·Rolling Stone
“In streamlining their story to emphasize the tragedies that accrue as time goes on, the film risks reducing its characters into martyrs who suffer and die on behalf of toxic masculinity.”
Allison Willmore·Vulture
“When the bad stuff does start happening—and then happens, again and again—it's hard to grasp the central why of it all. Why is this family so doomed, so pained, so self-destructive and unhappy?”
Richard Lawson·Vanity Fair
“It may be that by finally torquing a story about unimaginable loss into that of a mind who finds himself, The Iron Claw errs on the side of uplift. But as acted by Efron, the catharsis feels earned—the euphoric feeling of having broken out of a deathlock, even if only momentarily.”
Adam Nayman·The Ringer
Genres
Biography, Drama, Sport
Cast & Crew
Sean DurkinDirectorZac EfronKevin Von ErichJeremy Allen WhiteKerry Von ErichHarris DickinsonDavid Von ErichStanley SimonsMike Von ErichHolt McCallanyFritz Von ErichMaura TierneyDoris Von ErichLily JamesPamGrady WilsonYoung KevinScott InnesRing AnnouncerChavo Guerrero Jr.The SheikGarrett HammondSportatorium Referee #1Richard Reed ParryComposerMátyás ErdélyCinematography