Mr. McMahon

A wonderful thing. Toxic Americana from a director who is becoming a master in depicting American nightmares. Succession meets The Wrestler. Mr. McMahon is as respectful toward this sport/circus as The Iron Claw, but it is entirely devoid of ridiculous sentiment. Well-conducted interviews, skilful work with the editing, which constantly disrupts Vince McMahon’s mythmaking and shows how this whole monstrous spectacle served its creator primarily as an opportunity to put his psychopathic tendencies on public display. Though most of the material arose before the outbreak of the current scandals, it still proves to be effective in thoroughly revealing McMahon’s monster. At the same time, however, it is filled with respect for those wonderful, battered, swollen and voluntarily abused mountains of flesh. The wounds are only fake, but the pain is real. And wrestling isn’t a freakshow, but a grotesque reflection of American pop culture of recent decades. A show with an attitude. (28/10/2024)