I know my wrestling trust me. I could have seen this as an advanced preview as well, but didnt i think 5 trips in 5 days was too many, so here i am at 16:50 a normal cinema time for other people on a normal cinema day ready to watch the iron claw. My foot also needs a rest the tendonitis is playing up a lot & it just needs a nice calming afternoon as i watch a film that i hope delivers.

My screening is a third full. I know wrestling & sport movies arent for everyone especially in the uk with it being so American based. But im very happy with that. Id say the youngest people were actually us millennials but it was ranging from 28 to 68. Mainly male if im honest, but i was impressed.

Trailers, One Love, Dune 2, Godzilla & that was actually it. We had 15 mins of adverts before that. I know.., urgh

& then the film started… im not over it oh god… i dont think i ever will be.

Im going to swear & shot a lots as i type this…

HOW THE FUCK IS ZAC NOT UP FOR A FUCKING OSCAR!
…
sorry actually no im not. When i saw this i still had 1 to go… now ive seen them all & he is so so so much better than Bradley. Its a travesty. Im sorry i know people get snubbed in awards season & theres Oscar bate & whatever but this film deserved nominations for costume, hair & make up, adapted screen play, supporting for his dad, acting for Zac & a best picture nominee. Im still livid to this day.

I cried a lot. There were 2 full on blubs about this film, both in act 3 (especially that last moment) but there were moments when i could feel the tears drip down my face a bit & i was welling up. It just got so emotional & i was so invested in it. It hurt alot.

No i know a bit about wrestling. Hell i book fantasy wrestling (like fantasy football) & im good at it & i know what some wrestlers are like. In this film there is Ric Flair, deemed one of the greatest to grace the ring (i mean thats actually AJ Styles but for this lets go with it) & he did a promo in it & it started off slow & then came the first WOOOOOOOO! & it was spot on. The way his hands moved perfect. That robe stunning & then when he cut his head to bleed & went back stage & was genuine & it was mucking up his bleach blonde hair… yea i thought i was back watching old school wrestling for sure.

This is more than just a wrestling movie, but as someone who knows about it, it dealt with so many struggles within the industry so well. Especially this generation & how they were idolized. It was nice to see some wrestlers i recognised in it too. I mean Chavo Gurrero was in it & i recognised one of the tag teams they took on too. It meant that when Zac & the other actors were selling it looked real. There was one point during a narrative training part where Zac was irish whipping himself against the ropes to get out his anger & damn that was good that was so fucking good. Very intense. But it did get the whole era & how wrestlers were treated so spot on at that time.

His brothers were brilliant to (including Harrison who i often moan about on here) the whole cast were so good, be it an extra in a crowd a family member a wrestler. The whole thing just clicked & worked. Which meant when they wrestled for each other it was so much more powerful. You believed they were all in this together.

The score was perfect, especially mixed in with the sounds of the ring & the crowd & the fights. Made the hairs on my arms stand up & sent shivers down my spine constantly, just sublime.
There was so much passion in the stunts & the way they went for it too they knew they had to get this right or wresting nerds would go nope.

There was one scene where there was a drama with a dress & the stress it caused. That hurt. Ive kind of been there for that. Its not nice but that broke me a lot.

I do know some of their story before watching this but i had no idea they had that much bad luck & the curse they though it brought upon them. That hurt too. But as i sat there knowing shit was going to go down, i was on the edge of my chair going nah they arent going to show this & then they did or then referred back to it. IT was so tragic but it had to be shown that life isnt always about being world champions & the best & maybe it was a blessing.

This film is a brilliant advocate for mental health too. All they needed to do was talk & get help or get someone else to listen so often but people just didnt or passed it off to someone else. Unfortunately its still seen a little bit of a taboo for some men to not discuss it, but here they did need help & it was sad to see them all really struggle & not get through it. It just hurt. I mean it is now 2024 & weve come a long way from that but theres still so much more we can do. Just let people talk when they need to dont push them. Dont keep it locked away.

Another film which starts in black & white & then colour, this years in trend with oscar films. But this one for some reason it actually worked because it was showing you what his dad went through before leaping into colour for his story.

Yeah this was fucking phenomenal. This is easily the first golden buzzer nominee of 2024. I will be thinking about this film for a very very long time. It was stunning & i think even if you know nothing about wresting you will appreciate this. It was never goign to win best picture but it needed to be recognised.