Film: The Iron Claw

Unsurprisingly, I’ve never heard the true story of the Von Erich wrestling family. Considering the release  of Fighting with My Family film a few years back, how many true stories about wrestling families are still to come?

This is a family that follows Christianity and wrestling, but the two often come into conflict. The mother of four sons relies on her faith in God, while the manipulative and controlling father sees wrestling as their ticket to success and status in society. He openly ranks his children to motivate them, but despite this, they remain close and supportive of each other. Surprisingly, none of them have inherited their father's toxic masculinity, and they are all kind and empathetic individuals.

Still, it’s a powerful yet difficult watch as we grapple with tragedies and go through each loss. Even though they win more than they lose, loss is what I come away with.

It isn’t no The Wrestler, one of my favourite films of the last 2 decades, against which every wrestling film will be compared with.

7/10