Films like Man on Wire and Free Solo pushed the boundaries sky-high in terms of portraying dizzyingly high-altitude adventure-seeking. Now, with the immersive use of drones and GoPro cameras, the terrifying (and highly illegal) practice of ‘rooftopping’ is brought to the screen with the Netflix doc Skywalkers: A Love Story, which – as the title implies – has the added twist of throwing romance into the already spine-tingling mix.
Right from the start, first-time feature director Jeff Zimbalist and co-director Maria Bukhonina set out their stall. “This film contains extremely dangerous and illegal activities…do not attempt to imitate,” the on-screen warning states, before flagging up the story’s eventual climax, the attempt by Russian lovebirds Angela Nikolau and Ivan (or Vanja as he is usually called in the film) Beerkus to climb the Malaysian mega-skyscraper Merdeka 118.
The narrative then flips back several years to explore how Nikolau and Beerkus first embraced the world of ‘rooftopping,’ a practice which entails illegally climbing to the top of insanely tall buildings in pursuit of social media accolades and the possibility of financial gain.
Angela, whose parents were circus performers and who embraced gymnastics and acrobatics at an early age, is seen as the first woman of ‘rooftopping’, and admits she found her “performance…my trapeze” when cavorting atop buildings without safety gear. Beerkus, on the other hand, is a self-confessed loner who saw the rooftops as a form of escape, and as a teen would head up there with friends who were drinking or smoking, but discovered that the higher he scaled a building, the easier it was for him to “breathe”.
Beerkus attracts a significant social media following…which in turn leads to sponsorship deals and offers of international travel to pursue bigger climbs. He resolutely works alone and likes being in full control of his life, but things change when he notices the “new girl” online. He reaches out to her and suggests they go to China together for a climb for his sponsor – they start climbing and eventually fall in love, but it also means he has someone else to worry about.
Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina shoot within six countries over six years (also drawing on footage from a previous short film) to follow this couple as they boldly climb incredible heights, fall in love, start to bicker and fight (mainly during the Covid years) and then try and get back together, looking to scale both skyscraper Merdeka 118 as well as new heights of love. When they start climbing again post-Covid, Angela has a panic attack (well, who can blame her?) with the complex preparation and planning procedure for the 2,200 foot tall structure slightly wearing her down…she just wants to climb before the panic comes back.
The film is at its mesmerising best when it makes the most of breathtaking drone footage of them on top of striking buildings, accompanied by beautifully shot images of them posing in nigh-on impossible-to-believe situations. There is a stark – but rather brief – moment when long-distance footage of ‘rooftoppers’ who have fallen to their deaths provides a brutal counterpoint to the devil-may-care antics of Nikolau and Beerkus, but it is quickly pushed to the back burner as the pair continue with their perhaps shallow pursuit of social media stardom and accompanying sponsorship.
At one point Nikolau (who is blessed with real charisma) tries to justify what she does, adding that she is not an adrenaline junkie, instead “it is a commitment to self-growth.”
The film is elegantly structured and offers up tense and thrilling white-knuckle entertainment, with the heist-style preparation work seeing them eventually manage to find a way to dodge security guards and construction workers as they set about climbing the vertiginous heights of Merdeka 118. What Nikolau and Beerkus do is frankly terrifying, and there is no denying it looks amazing on screen. But as poignantly, theirs is a dizzying love story played out against an enthralling series of backdrops.
US, 2024, 110mins
Dirs: Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina
Production: All Rise Films, Library Films, XYZ Films
International sales: XYZ Films
Prods: Tamir Ardon, Maria Bukhonina, Chris Smith, Nick Spicer, Jeff Zimbalist
Scr: Jeff Zimbalist
Cinematography: Renato Borrayo Serrano
Editor: Alannah Byrnes
Music: Jacques Brautbar, Tereza Dos Santos Costa
With: Angela Nikolau, Ivan Beerkus
Skywalkers: A Love Story, which world-premiered at Sundance 2024, was released on Netflix July 19.
