Last night, I saw The Iron Claw in a completely packed theater. I was a little surprised that so many people were there if I am being totally honest. I saw a trailer for The Iron Claw when watching 2023’s Dream Scenario, but other than that, I really didn’t hear anything about this movie. I was also surprised because… well… I am always surprised how many people care about wrestling.

I have never ever been into wrestling in my life. I did not know the Von Erichs story or really anything outside of seeing the trailer. But I am honestly so glad that I didn’t know the story going in.

Let me say this first and foremost: this is NOT a wrestling movie. I mean, of course, wrestling is a huge part of it… but it is more of a metaphorical plate that the real meat of the story rides on. This story is a tragedy through and through. As more and more unfolded from the story, I leaned over to my wife and said “Jesus Christ.” And I meant it. Things get worse and worse and worse for the Von Erichs. To the point that I thought the filmmakers were taking some liberties with the story. Turns out, after a quick Google search of the real Von Erichs on the way home, that the filmmakers DID take liberties with the story. But to make it LESS tragic. They took an entire brother out of the film because it would, and I quote the director here, “be too much” for the audience.

The Iron Claw is one of those movies that I never want to watch again… in a good way. It was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and just terribly hard to watch. And I loved it. Not to mention that the cast that delivers this horrendously tragic story are all top tier in their performances. The only thing that took me out of the movie was the fact that we had to shovel tragic tale after tragic tale so quickly. By the time we were able to process one character’s story, we were already knee-deep into the next story line. Which was a little jarring to be completely honest. The movie simply cannot take its time with each storyline because, I don’t know how else to say this, we have just too many horrible ends to watch.

Because of this The Iron Claw gets a 3.5 out of 4. I cannot believe that this is a real story. I still don’t care about wrestling, but I truly care for the Von Erichs. I feel this movie may be slept on, but it is totally worth the watch. It’s one of the most beautiful, horrible movies I have ever watched. I hope to never see it again, but I am so happy I saw it in the first place.

The only thing more unbelievable than the Von Erich story is the human-meat bodysuit that Zac Efron wears through the entire movie. There is mounds and lumps on his body that even Adonis wouldn’t believe. I didn’t know if I should cry through the entire movie or question my sexuality.