Wrestling at the movies: Here are the 3 best movies to watch after Iron Claw

If you enjoyed Iron Claw, which hit theaters on January 24th, here are 3 must-see wrestling feature films!

wrestler

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, author of The Last Whale, The Wrestler takes us to the late 80s. Randy Robinson, known as Aries (“The Ram”), played by the incredible Mickey Rourke, was a wrestling star.

Twenty years later, he only performs in high school gyms or neighborhood centers. Estranged from his daughter, he cannot maintain a long-term relationship with anyone: he lives only for the pleasure of the show and the adoration of his fans.

But when he suffers a heart attack in the middle of a match, the doctor orders him to give up wrestling: another fight could be fatal. Forced to settle down, she tries to reconnect with her daughter while also starting an affair with an older stripper.

However, his taste for spectacle and his passion for wrestling will likely pick him up and get him back in the ring.

Mickey Rourke carries this masterful work on his shoulders as this battered and jaded wrestler. “A Rock with wrestling sauce”wrote the specialized magazine Brazil when the film was released in 2006.

rude king

Be careful, Nugbari! Foul King , released in 2000, is the second feature film by South Korean filmmaker Kim Ji-won, who we owe in particular to A Bittersweet Life (2005) and It’s Turning in Seoul (2023).

A young bank employee, the shy Im Dae-ho is not perfect in his work. In addition to unsatisfactory results, he is always late, incurring the wrath of his boss.

A wrestling fan since childhood, he decides to join a club to release his frustrations. Then it’s a real revelation for the man who now calls himself King of the Indecent.

Thanks to this film, actor Song Kang-ho became a star in South Korea before exploding into the public eye in Memories of Murder (2003). In 2019, his performance in Parasite catapulted him to international stardom. In Foul King, he delivers a mind-blowing performance that already shows the fullness of your talent.

Super nachos

A bit of enjoyable comedy, Super Nacho takes on the hilarious Jack Black! The latter plays an orphan named Nacho who spent his youth in a Mexican monastery before becoming its cook.

But his gifts leave much to be desired, and we’re not counting the liver attacks and tourists attributed to his dishes and the pitiful ingredients he uses.

Nacho understood that it would be wiser to buy better products – and he started making money for it. In this way, he would bring some happiness to his precious orphans and perhaps a chance to impress his idol, the delicious and innocent newbie Encarnacion.

Soon a bold idea is born in his head: to start a career as a masked wrestler in a big secret. Along with the thin skeleton, Nacho discovers the undiscovered talent of Lucha Libre. He has finally found his calling, here he is ready to challenge the greatest wrestlers in his country.

Bonus: Beyond the Ring

Released in 1999, Beyond the Ring is a behind-the-scenes documentary about the very popular spectator sport in the United States, wrestling. In his first feature film, Barry W. Blaustein follows famous and colorful wrestlers like Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who never leaves his snake, even in the ring.

This remarkable documentary offers an uncompromising immersion into the world of American spectator sports, analyzing the workings of an environment that may seem esoteric to the uninitiated.

Thus, the director focuses on three famous wrestlers, the first at the peak of his career (Mick Foley, aka Mankind), the second thinking about retirement (Terry Funk) and the last in bad shape (Jake “Snake” Roberts).