Skywalkers: A Love Story Review — A Documentary That Actually Earns Its Vertigo
I’ll be honest, I went into Skywalkers: A Love Story expecting a straightforward extreme-sports doc. Some climbing, some near-misses, a bit of drone footage set to dramatic music. What I got instead was a film that made my palms sweat for a completely different reason than I expected, and that’s the whole point of it.
The Setup
The documentary follows Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, a real couple from Moscow who’ve spent years climbing skyscrapers, cranes, and construction sites illegally, almost always without any safety gear. Their whole “job,” if you can call it that, revolves around getting to the top of things nobody’s supposed to be on top of, filming it, and somehow surviving to do it again.
The film builds toward their biggest attempt yet: a climb on Merdeka 118 in Malaysia, the second-tallest building in the world. Just typing that sentence makes me a little uneasy, and watching it play out on screen is worse, in the best possible way.
What Actually Works
The thing I didn’t expect is how much the film cares about the relationship over the stunts. Yes, the climbing sequences are genuinely nerve-wracking, but director Jeff Zimbalist and co-director Maria Bukhonina spend just as much time on the quieter moments, the arguments, the doubts, the trust that has to exist between two people before either of them will follow the other onto a ledge with no railing.
It helps that none of it is staged. The crew pulled together over 200 hours of footage shot across six countries over seven years, and a good chunk of that is Angela and Ivan’s own self-filmed footage from climbs the crew wasn’t even there for. That rawness comes through. You’re not watching actors reenact danger, you’re watching two people who’ve genuinely put their lives in each other’s hands, repeatedly, for years.
Where It Falls Short
If I’m being critical, the film occasionally leans a little too hard into the “storybook romance” angle, to the point where it can feel almost too neat for how chaotic their actual lives seem to be. A few reviewers have pointed out the same thing, that the love story sometimes feels curated rather than fully lived-in. It doesn’t ruin the film, but it’s noticeable if you’re paying attention.
The Real-World Twist
Here’s the part that’s made this documentary relevant all over again. Angela and Ivan recently pulled off another unauthorized climb, this time on a well-known skyscraper in New York, completely unconnected to Netflix or any production. By most accounts, they got engaged at the top before dealing with the legal consequences once they were back on the ground. It’s the kind of real-life sequel nobody asked for but everyone’s talking about, and it’s sent a lot of new viewers straight to the documentary to see where their story actually started.
The Verdict
Skywalkers: A Love Story premiered at Sundance before Netflix picked it up, and it’s easy to see why it made the top 10 in over two dozen countries after release. It’s tense, it’s a little uncomfortable, and it lingers with you longer than you’d expect from a film ostensibly about people climbing buildings. If you want a documentary that’s equal parts thriller and love story, this one earns the hype.
Rating: 4/5 — Gripping, genuinely dangerous, and more emotional than it has any right to be.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Skywalkers: A Love Story worth watching? Yes, it’s a tense, well-made documentary that works as both an extreme-sports thriller and a genuine love story, with real (not staged) climbing footage throughout.
Who are the real people in Skywalkers? The documentary follows Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, a real Moscow-based couple known as professional rooftoppers.
Is the climbing in the documentary real? Yes, the stunts and climbs shown are real, filmed over several years using a mix of crew footage and the couple’s own self-recorded videos.
Where can I watch Skywalkers: A Love Story? It’s streaming exclusively on Netflix.