• Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About
Menu

World of Reel

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Home
IMG_5228.jpg
Kevin Costner’s $100M Gamble on ‘Horizon’ Now Mired in Legal Dispute
IMG_5226.png
Madonna Biopic is Now A Netflix Limited Series
IMG_5227.jpg
Cristian Mungiu's ‘Fjord' Acquired by Neon for 2026 Release
Capture (1).png
Andy Muschietti to Direct Sci-Fi ‘Drift'
Screenshot 2025-05-12 112348.png
‘Shadow Force': Joe Carnahan's $60M Action Movie Bombs With $2M Opening
Featured
Capture.PNG
Aug 19, 2019
3-Hour ‘Midsommar' Director's Cut Screened in NYC
Aug 19, 2019

This year’s 12th edition of the Scary Movies festival at Film at Lincoln Center premiered Ari Aster’s extended version of “Midsommar” this past Saturday.

Aug 19, 2019

World of Reel

  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
  • More
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
  • About
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About

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

January 8, 2024 Jordan Ruimy

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.

← Paul Verhoeven is Not A Fan of the ‘RoboCop’ and ‘Total Recall’ Remakes‘Ferrari’ Sets January 23rd VOD Release Date →

FOLLOW US!


Trending

Featured
IMG_4571.jpg
David Fincher & Brad Pitt Reunite for ‘The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth' + Plot Details
IMG_4549.png
Warners Bros. Chief Admits Missteps on ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’: “We Misread the Room”
IMG_4541.jpg
Scorsese’s Next Film? Hawaiian Mob Epic With Dwayne Johnson Eyes 2026 Shoot
Capture.png
Jim Caviezel to be De-Aged in ‘The Resurrection of the Christ'
IMG_4465.png
Harmony Korine Says Hollywood Struggling Because “Movies Suck Today”

Critics Polls

Featured
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants
B16BAC21-5652-44F6-9E83-A1A5C5DF61D7.jpeg
Critics Poll: Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Tops Our 1960s Critics Poll
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘The Godfather’ Named Best Movie of the 1970s
public.jpeg
Critics Poll: ‘Do the Right Thing' Named Best Movie of the 1980s
Critics Poll: ‘Mulholland Drive' Named Best Film of the 2000s
g4.jpg
Critics' Poll: ‘Goodfellas' Named Best Movie of the 1990s
Critics Poll: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road' Named Best Movie of the 2010s
World of Reel tagline.PNG
 

Content

Contribute

Hire me

 

Support

Advertise

Donate

 

About

Team

Contact

Privacy Policy

Site designed by Jordan Ruimy © 2023