National Geographic is behind a film that many will call a spiritual successor to Free Solo as it features people taking on an extreme sport that can result in their death. Personally, I found the documentary to be more akin to Goodfellas, where the thrills and excitement of their lifestyle is the main character of the story and it’s a life the people cannot and do not want to escape from. Fly comes from directors Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau and follows several base jumpers who are some of the happiest and lively people you will ever meet.
Many of these jumpers are so dedicated to the sport that the adrenaline and feeling of flying that they get has made them addicted to a sport that the film shows is certainly one of the most dangerous in the world. However, even as the subjects of the documentary face setbacks and changes in their lives they continually show that they’re addicted to the sport. (This is especially true in the men in the film who, in the presence of their partners, keep pushing themselves to do more intense and dangerous jumps.)
These couple’s lives revolve around their partnership in base jumping. Even so, a part of the film that we never see or confront is how much these women push themselves to try to keep up with their partners, who are driven to the adrenaline in a way they simply are not. The jumpers and their families acknowledge that these jumpers would not be happy without being able to do the sport, the immersive cinematography shows these thrills impressively with a vast collection of clips from GoPros on the jumpers and stunning camerawork from both the mountains and drones. It’s a film for adrenaline junkies and anyone who has felt attached to a passion in life.
Fly is playing at Hot Docs ’24. For more information, click here.
