Spectacle, spires and romance: The ‘real suspense’ behind Netflix doc ‘Skywalkers: A Love Story’

It started out as a film about rooftoppers. “We didn’t know what the finish line was,” Zimbalist said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “But it was unusual when the cameras started following us everywhere.” One place they weren’t being followed, however, was to the top of the spires or cranes. “The real suspense of this movie is, is Angela going to ultimately choose to trust Ivan?” In recent years there’s been several high-profile documentaries chronicling the lives and exploits of extreme athletes and daredevils, including Alex Honnold in “ Free Solo.” Nikolau and Beerkus ignored the suggestion to watch that one and “Man on Wire” to get a sense of what a longform documentary was like. Seeing that from the side kind of gives us a new perspective.” Beerkus added: “We liked all the choices that the directors of the film made because they were able to grasp the real essence of our relationship and what’s going on in there.” In the days after this interview, Nikolau and Beerkus moved from Thailand to New York.