A stigma still looms over men weeping on screen. Tears are associated with weakness, crying something “little girls” do, vulnerability only hinted at rather than expressed freely. The Iron Claw is looking to crack open these outdated notions. In this moving, true-life drama, the tightknit Von Erich brothers are ruled by the steely fist of their father Fritz, played by Holt McCallany, who dictates the shape of their lives as he encourages them to fulfil his own failed dream of becoming the National Wrestling Alliance’s world heavyweight champ.
We meet the siblings in 1980s Texas: eldest Kevin (a frighteningly bulked up Zac Efron), Olympic hopeful Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), kind-hearted David (Harris Dickinson) and sensitive musician Mike (Stanley Simons). They are on the brink of greatness, finely tuned wrestling machines sporting tiny vests and questionable haircuts, dutifully following their father’s orders and society’s expectations of what makes a man. And that means not crying – ever. So when tragedy strikes, Fritz forbids his sons from shedding any tears. They comply until, one by one, each starts to unravel, suffocating under the weight of repression.
