A new Netflix documentary is both thrilling and repelling viewers - with some even claiming that watching it almost game them a panic attack. Skywalkers: A Love Story follows Russian thrill-seekers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus as they scale towering buildings - with seemingly little thought for safety - to capture breathtaking content for social media. Amid their high-risk adventures, they navigate a passionate and intense romantic relationship, riffing on the Hollywood notion that spending your life on the edge can lead to falling in love.
Filmed over seven years, this documentary weaves together more than 200 hours of footage, including Angela and Ivan’s own daring recordings, to deliver an exhilarating and intimate look at their lives. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes awarded the documentary a decent 72 per cent, with the consensus being "Blending romance with vertiginous thrill-seeking, Skywalkers: A Love Story is a documentary of truly dizzying proportions." Elsewhere, John Nugent of Empire gave it 3 out of 5 stars.
He praised the film's ability to get under the viewers' skin, but "doesn't quite reach the heights it could." Nell Minow, writing for RogerEbert.com , rated the film 2 out of 5 stars, describing the climbs as 'somewhat performative' and the lead couple 'completely self-centered'.
'This documentary damn near gave me a panic attack' The documentary has been met with a groundswell of positive response on social media, with X users both singing its praises,.