“There is a danger to romance,” says Jeff Zimbalist, co-director of the new documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, which follows the love story of two Russian daredevils who attempt to scale ever higher and more dangerous heights. The film follows Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, whose exploits include illegally entering and ascending the world’s tallest buildings while filming their exploits and posting them online. Skywalkers documents their climbs across six years in six different countries and how this shared passion has shaped their relationship and their love for one another. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonia, the first trailer has now arrived ahead of a premiere on Netflix on July 19. XYZ Films will also be releasing Skywalkers: A Love Story in select IMAX theatres for one-week only beginning July 12.
Jordan Raup said in his Sundance review, “It may have nothing to do with the fantastical creations of George Lucas, but in terms of achieving blockbuster-sized thrills, Skywalkers: A Love Story succeeds on a level where so many Hollywood productions fail. Following the trials and tribulations in love and play of a Russian influencer couple who have dedicated their life to illegally scaling the world’s largest skyscrapers, its immersive cinematography places us in nail-biting heights right alongside them. Following in the footsteps of the rousing Man on Wire and Free Solo, with a bit of Mission: Impossible-like espionage thrown in, the footage is about as thrilling and vertigo-inducing as one could imagine. Like another Netflix release––last year’s The Deepest Breath, which captured the story of free divers plumbing the depths of the ocean––Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s new documentary attempts to elucidate the thought process behind these daredevil theatrics. Yet it ends up doing more to glorify and celebrate their life-threatening, thrill-seeking actions than interrogate the complexity of why they have devoted their existence to an insane diversion that has seen many of their friends fall to their deaths.”
Check out the trailer and poster below:
