February Film Reviews: The Iron Claw, Double Blind, A Royal Affair

This month we’ll go over two films based on true stories and a (very clearly not true) horror movie. If you’re in the mood for a drama about a quartet of wrestling brothers, a B-horror movie that’ll discourage you from signing up for clinical trials, or a romantic drama set in the eighteenth century, one of these films might be what you’re looking for.

The Iron Claw (2023)

A24, 132 minutes

The Iron Claw tells the story of the real-life wrestling family, the Von Erich’s. We follow four brothers who are motivated by their (not such a good guy) father to become wrestling superstars, with the father, himself, having been a wrestler.

The film mainly falls into the drama genre, with it also being somewhat of a sports movie. There is a bit of wrestling, but as not really a wrestling fan myself, I can safely say that an interest in the sport isn’t necessary to appreciate The Iron Claw.

Acting-wise, the cast does a fine job, with Zac Efron probably delivering the best performance as eldest brother, Kevin Von Erich. As someone not familiar with the story of the Von Erich family, I was definitely curious throughout as to what would happen and where our characters would end up. The film succeeds in packing an emotional punch, and I’d recommend it to wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans alike.

Grade: 8/10

Double Blind (2023)

Epic Pictures, 90 minutes

Double Blind is a horror-thriller with an interesting premise, but that falls short of being decent for a few different reasons. Story-wise, we focus on a group of seven individuals who’ve signed up for an experimental drug study where they’ll be confined to an underground facility for the few days they’re being given the drug. After some shenanigans, it becomes evident that if someone falls asleep after having been given the drug, he or she will die. So basically, our group have to try to stay awake while also finding a way to escape the facility.

This is very much a B-movie, and considering that, the acting is actually better than you’d expect. It’s mainly the direction that the story goes that’s the biggest issue here. After about the midpoint, the movie ventures from being just a little ludicrous (which is fine for this sort of film) into completely bonkers territory. (You don’t want to ever enter bonkers territory, even if you’re a B-movie.) The third act in particular is off-the-walls silly.

Another issue (albeit a more minor one) is that a double-blind study is one where the experimenters and subjects don’t know who’s been given the actual drug and who’s the control. Here, they all just receive the actual drug with no one being the control (and this is stated pretty early on so it’s not really a spoiler). I think the writers just thought Double Blind was a cool title for a movie, so they went with that. Overall, this one isn’t completely awful, but isn’t really worth an hour and a half of your time either.

Grade: 4.5/10

A Royal Affair (2012)

Magnolia Pictures, 137 minutes

A Royal Affair was released over a decade ago, but I’d never even heard of it before. That’s a little bit surprising since this a quality film that received positive reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.

This true story (which, after a bit of research, does a good job of being mostly actually true, at least when compared to other “true story” films), is set in the late 1700s in Denmark. The movie centers around the titular royal affair between the young queen and the king’s royal physician. I don’t want to get much more into the plot, but I will say that, as someone not familiar with Danish history, I found it thoroughly engaging, and didn’t know exactly what would happen.

The acting in this historical drama, which really focuses on the king, queen, and royal physician, is really top tier. I thought the three actors in these roles did a great job. Mads Mikkelsen plays the physician and, as with almost all of his performances, he’s great here.

A Royal Affair could’ve benefited from being tightened up a little and would’ve been improved by being maybe 15 minutes shorter, but it’s still a worthwhile watch that I would definitely recommend.

Grade: 8.5/10