The Iron Claw is ‘Part Family Drama, Part Gothic Horror, Part Sports Movie’, Says Director Sean Durkin

‘The Iron Claw’ was the signature move of the Von Erichs, the legendary family of professional wrestlers who rose to stardom in the Eighties and went on to occupy pride of place in the WWE Hall of Fame. In Sean Durkin’s acclaimed 2023 film based on their story, the phrase represents the toxic masculinity and unforgiving legacy that grips and never truly lets go of the characters in the film. At the outset of The Iron Claw, Kevin — the second-oldest son, played by Zac Efron — muses about how people believe the Von Erich family is cursed, because “bad things keep happening” to them. Helmed by oppressive patriarch Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany), the family’s glittering triumphs in the world of wrestling are offset by unimaginable tragedy, with the devastating demise of four out of five sons. 

Durkin’s fascination with the Von Erich family dates back to his childhood. “When I was a kid living in England in the late Eighties and early Nineties, finding out about Texas wrestling was not easy,” he shared with Film Companion. “I could track down VHS tapes of old events, but they were hard to come by. My best bet was to read about it in magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated. One day, I went into a magazine shop and found the latest edition, which was probably a few months old at that point. My mother bought it for me and I read it while we were eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant on a Saturday night. I remember opening the page and seeing the news that Kerry Von Erich (played by Jeremy Allen White in the film) had died. It broke my heart. I had seen him wrestle live a few times and was such a fan of him and his family. I knew his other brothers had died earlier, and to think that another brother had gone was too much. My thoughts were with the family, and they stayed somewhere in mind for most of my life.”

The Von Erichs were entertainers like no other. But more than their distinctive, high flying rock and roll style of wrestling, it was their loss that haunted Durkin. “As I started to write the script for The Iron Claw and craft this family’s story into a film, I had to find what my own connection to it was. Why was I so drawn to these guys as a kid?” the director wondered. Since its release last year The Iron Claw has been referred to as a ‘feel-bad’ film due to its relentlessly tragic subject matter. However, the film also highlights the deeper issues that racked the Von Erich family — Fritz’s ruthless treatment of his sons, and the way he prized his pride and wrestling glory over their well-being — and bringing out the human beings behind the larger-than-life sports figures. 

The Iron Claw is anchored by incredible performances, particularly by Efron as the last remaining Von Erich son. Hulking, muscled and brutal in the ring, Efron gives Kevin the forlorn vulnerability of a lost little boy whose love for his family knows no bounds. “The Von Erichs have been referred to as the Kennedys of sports,” said Durkin, referring to the series of misfortunes that plagued the political family. “Although there is unthinkable loss within the Von Erich family, The Iron Claw is not about grief and pain, it is about the absence of grief and what can happen when people refuse to look at their pain. Their family story is a small piece of American history, but it digs up the bedrock of extreme misguided masculinity, and a generational mindset that has harmed our culture in ways we are only just beginning to understand,” Durkin observed. “Part family drama, part gothic horror, and part sports movie, The Iron Claw is a true Greek Tragedy in the American heartland. It is a story of resurrection as Kevin shatters the mould of his family creed and breaks the curse, coming out the other side, wiser, stronger, and at peace.”

“Drawing on the tradition of films that explore the tightrope of glory, loss, and American masculinity,” Durkin’s influences while making the film included Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978) and Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980). According to him, “The Iron Claw is a movie about family, fathers and sons, brothers. It is about finding love and learning to love yourself for who you are. It is about battling against this narrow idea of what makes a man. It is about chasing glory and the illusions of success. It is about generational strife and questioning the lens with which we are conditioned to see the world in order to find a hopeful new future. The Iron Claw is a celebration of self-discovery, camaraderie, brotherhood, and the glory days of territorial wrestling in the U S of A.”