Those Who Snubbed ‘Iron Claw’ Deserve an Elbow Smash

2023 was a big year for movies going for Oscars. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” was the big winner of the season, with other cult classic series coming back for renaissances, such as “Top Gun Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water”.

With all the great movies that were released in 2023, some films ended up being buried. This happened to the A24 movie “The Iron Claw”.

A well built cast and highly regarded production company should have vaulted this picture into the award zeitgeist with ease. However, it wasn’t even nominated for a single Oscar. This is a shame, considering it was the best film of the year. Spoilers ahead.

The movie’s premise lies around the true story of the Von Erich wrestling family, focusing primarily on the eldest brother Kevin, played by the multi talented Zac Efron.

As the story goes, the Von Erich family are wrestling superstars, all wrestling at a national level. They were on the same level as wrestlers like Ric Flair, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant. Through their skill and touching family dynamic, they each rise to the top and see massive amounts of glory. Through this glory, they experience many new opportunities.

Their father, Fritz, was a famous wrestler before them, and runs the wrestling league his son’s work for. Because of this, he tends to push his son’s to extreme’s they are not entirely ready for or comfortable with. Through misfortune and tragedy, one by one, the brothers end up dying in sad ways, ultimately leaving Kevin the last brother standing.

With the plot now out of the way, here is why it is perfect. The acting by each person in the movie feels real and relatable. You can imagine your own mother or brother behaving like the ones on the screen. Each actor and actress brought their A-game.

The fact that it is a true story also adds to the realism, as it is something that really happened to a poor family, so the element of realism is there. Every set and shot is realistic and colorful, almost transporting you to the event. The writing also reflects that, keeping everything simple and personal.

It also happens to be Zac Efron’s best performance of his career. For the people who thought of Zac Efron as the silly Disney Channel guy from “High School Musical”, they were mildly surprised to find out how much depth and skill he possessed when it comes to serious acting. He ties the entire movie together and makes you feel every emotion displayed.

Finally, as a person with a younger brother, it really hit home for me. I love my brother to unquantifiable bounds, so every scene between any of the brothers felt real to me and made me feel intense emotion. I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear at the end of the movie when Zac Efron finished his magnum opus with tears of his own.

“The Iron Claw” was the best movie of 2023. It is a crying shame that it was not recognized as such, but those who have seen it understand its level of perfection. If you are a brother, you will fall in love with this film. If you were a brother once, it will break your heart.

Kaleb Moore is a Wichita freshman studying journalism. You can follow him on Instagram.

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