Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2023
#9. The Iron Claw

My unwritten rule when it comes to biopics is the less familiar I am with the subject matter, the more likely I’ll enjoy the film.

My familiarity with professional wrestling basically starts with Hulk Hogan in Rock III and ends with Florence Pugh in Fighting with My Family, so the extraordinary true story of the Von Erich family was not on my radar.

Turns out it’s the perfect raw material for a heartbreaking, yet life-affirming, movie about pain and perseverance in and out of the ring.

Writer/director Sean Durkin previously impressed me with 2020’s The Nest, an artsy family drama. This film is something different — an exploration of grief and generational trauma filtered through a rollicking sports movie. Come for the exhilarating wrestling montages, stay for the cathartic sight of grown men hugging.

Those men are played by one of the year’s best ensembles: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons as the four Von Erich brothers, and Holt McCallany as their domineering father Fritz. Maura Tierney is heart-wrenching as the family’s matriarch, while Lily James brings considerable warmth and sincerity to her role as the eldest son’s wife.

I’m tiptoeing around the actual story of this film on the off chance that readers of the blog are as unfamiliar with it as I was. I’ll just say that this is a tragedy, but one with a playful spirit and a hopeful soul.