‘The Iron Claw’ Has Turned Into A Sleeper Hit for A24, but Where’s the Oscar Love?

It’s a real shame that Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw” got lost in the shuffle of late-December releases. It deserved better than this.

I’m not talking box-office wise, it’s actually proved to be a commercial success for A24. The wrestling drama, which made $4.5 million this past weekend, is A24’s second highest grosser of 2023 as it crossed the $25 million mark on Monday.

This is all well deserved since “The Iron Claw” is a great film and deserves accolades for its ensembles cast, Durkin’s meticulously precise direction and the fascinating story being told. It might even crack my top 10 of 2023 (which, I promise, is coming soon).

So, what am I complaining about exactly? Quite simply, that the film was not rolled out in a way for it to contend for awards — which it wholeheartedly deserves. A24 should have premiered this one at a fall festival, like Telluride or Venice. Instead, they opted to skip festivals altogether and release it in the final weeks of the year. Why?

“The Iron Claw” is the type of film that absolutely needs the large spotlight of a film festival. It’s not big or showy and could immensely benefit from exposure. Durkin was also coming off two above-average films, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “The Nest,” and he’s the kind of name that would thrive at a festival — such as he did at Cannes and Sundance.

The result is that Zac Efron, who is fantastic, in a career-best performance, as Kevin Von Eric, will likely not get Best Actor nominated. Ditto the film itself, which feels so lived-in, with intense sadness in every beautifully constructed frame. There’s an emotional core to this film; it’s as much about death as it is about family and love. Themes that resonate with people.

The most frustrating part is that audiences also seem to love “The Iron Claw,” it has an 8.1 user score on IMDB, 94% audience approval on RT and garnered an A grade on CinemaScore. Also, the reason why I decided to write this article is because of the sheer volume of people I’ve spoken to, these last few weeks, who couldn’t stop praising the film.

Such as with all great films, audiences will continue to discover “The Iron Claw” in the years to come, and people will wonder why it wasn’t nominated for a single Oscar. A24, despite turning it into a commercial success, botched a golden opportunity to give this film a proper awards campaign.