Skywalkers: A Love Story

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Skywalkers: A Love Story

R

2024

1h 39m

Documentary

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

59 Reviews

94%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

A daredevil couple risks it all by going where no one has gone before: the top of the world's second-highest skyscraper. Angela and Vanya are Russia's preeminent rooftoppers who defy the odds (and death) to scale the globe's tallest buildings. As their acrobatic stunts go viral and rack up millions of online views, they put their love and trust to the test as they create a highly dangerous new artform that they call "skywalking."

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Critics Consensus

Blending romance with vertiginous thrill-seeking, Skywalkers: A Love Story is a documentary of truly dizzying proportions.

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Emma Keates

AV Club

Angela and Ivan’s love story often feels almost too storybook to be plausible, but it’s next to impossible not to root for them as they support each other—often physically—through their many costumed security evasions and insane stunts.

Rated: B-

Jul 26, 2024

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Nell Minow

RogerEbert.com

Zimbalist (a sometime rooftopper) and his co-director Maria Bukhonina make it clear that the stunts are real but never get beyond a Photoshop version of the characters.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 21, 2024

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Bilge Ebiri

New York Magazine/Vulture

For all its problems, Skywalkers is often very watchable.

Jul 20, 2024

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Clotilde Chinnici

The People's Movies

Ultimately, Skywalkers: A Love Story is a well-made documentary, even if its subject matter may not seem particularly interesting at first.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 19, 2025

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Valerie Kalfrin

AWFJ.org

Not for viewers with vertigo, Skywalkers: A Love Story is best appreciated as a travelogue rather than as a high-flying romance. ... The imagery, much of it thanks to the couple’s drone shots and precision, is indeed stunning.

Aug 29, 2024

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Bill Newcott

The Saturday Evening Post

In a world where reality TV offers up manufactured conflicts...as frequent as commercial breaks, it’s hard to know how much of the human drama...is real. Zimbalist, though, is a serious documentarian, so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 20, 2024

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Giovanni J

Definitely more of a love-story than I thought as their journey doing DEATH-DEFYING skywalking really places one's trust in another. I actually got quesy when they are skywalking. This documentary is similar to the one where Frenchman Phillipe Petit tight-rope walked across The Twin Towers in NYC in the early 70s just as the buildings were being finished being built. Similar obstacles. Also a movie was made out of that called...The Walk back in 2015 (wow almost 10yrs ago). This movie I saw at the Netflix theater in NYC (The Paris Theater) next to Central Park, but it is NOT an IMAX theater thus disappointed in that. The real IMAX theater near Lincoln Center was already showing other movies. Thus deduct half a star. Excellent movie, especially a DATE movie with your significant other.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/21/24

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Bara S

Is this true love story, if this is true of love. But in the world full of love then there are invisible people. How many couples are left behind by people they know. But this is Skywalkers, based on a true story.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/25/25

Full Review

Marc S

Très bon documentaire réaliste avec des images réelles. Il faut être un peu téméraire de faire de tels Assensions sans aucune protection. Il est intéressant de voir évoluer leur complicité jusqu'à une histoire d'amour. Ils font de belles images artistiques.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/11/25

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Sara T

This is “Man on a Wire” in today’s world. Yikes! Nothing more needs to be said. .

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/06/24

Full Review

Amdemichael D

I was terrified. I felt my balls hide behind my stomach. In the meantime It's an awesome love story.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/22/24

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie is amazing! My friend and I loved it. It went full circle and did a deep dive on the sky-walkers' fears and desires. We cried together as we realized how Angela overcame her childhood traumas and how Ivan cared so much for her. Bravo! Really well done.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/10/24

Full Review

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Jeff Zimbalist

Director

Maria Bukhonina

Director

Angela Nikolau

Self

Ivan Beerkus

Self

Jeff Zimbalist

Screenwriter

Jeff Zimbalist

Producer

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Skywalkers: A Love Story: Trailer

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Synopsis

A daredevil couple risks it all by going where no one has gone before: the top of the world's second-highest skyscraper. Angela and Vanya are Russia's preeminent rooftoppers who defy the odds (and death) to scale the globe's tallest buildings. As their acrobatic stunts go viral and rack up millions of online views, they put their love and trust to the test as they create a highly dangerous new artform that they call "skywalking."

Director: Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina
Producer: Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina, Tamir Ardon, Chris Smith
Screenwriter: Jeff Zimbalist
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: XYZ Films, Library Films, All Rise Films
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Documentary, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 12, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 19, 2024
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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