Have you ever looked out over a dramatic cliff edge and imagined what it would feel like to take that leap and just let the wind carry you? National Geographic’s gripping new documentary Fly brings viewers as close as possible to that exhilarating experience, giving a breathtaking glimpse into the world of daredevil BASE jumpers.
Directed by Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz over several years, Fly provides an immersive look at the sport of launching oneself off fixed objects like cliffs using only a parachute. We witness some of the most beautiful natural locations on Earth from a truly unique perspective, seeing icy mountaintops and deep canyons in Norway, Utah’s Moab region, and beyond through helmet cameras strapped to fearless athletes as they literally take flight.
Through intimate portraits of three adventurous couples who are all devoted to their dangerous passion, the film explores what drives these risk-takers and the tight-knit community they’ve formed. But it also doesn’t shy away from the very real dangers, graphically depicting serious accidents that serve as sobering reminders of the high stakes.
After debuting at film festivals in 2024, including SXSW, Hot Docs, and Telluride, Fly has now been released by National Geographic Documentary Films to bring its breathtaking sensations and moving human stories to wider audiences. Come soar through the skies with these BASE jumping extremists—just be prepared for your heart to be in your mouth the whole time!
Facing Fear to Find Freedom
At the heart of Fly are six thrill-seeking individuals who’ve made daring through air their lives’ work. We’re introduced to them through their daring feats and everyday lives.
There’s Jimmy Pouchert and Marta Empinotti, the longtime leaders of California’s Apex BASE company. American Jimmy’s playful swagger is kept grounded by Brazilian Marta’s level-headed focus on safety. Having taught countless others the art of survival, these “Mom and Pop” remain wildly in love with the thrill.
Another power couple is Scotty Bob Morgan and Julia Botelho Morgan. American Scotty’s past struggles melted away thanks to that “love at first jump.” With Brazilian Julia beside him as wife, mother, and pro jumper in their own training school, he now finds peace in each perilous plunge.
Norwegian Espen Fadnes and Brit Amber Forte take their passion internationally as expert wingsuit competitors. Despite hardships like Amber’s accident, their devotion to flying as one remains unwavering.
Secondary stars include Canadian Jay Mo and Aussie ‘Dicko,’ close friends to Jimmy and Marta through countless jumps around vivid global locations from Utah to the Alps.
While the couples vary in careers and stages—from empty-nesters to parents-to-be—each has sacrificed stability for the singular sensation that only BASE can provide. Facing fear is their sole way of truly feeling free. And these thrill-seekers suggest that without risk, life offers no reward.
Finding Freedom in Fear
Base jumping is undeniably risky business. As one jumper reflected, when something goes wrong, things can end “horribly.” But for these daredevils, that danger is just part of what draws them in, again and again.
Jimmy himself said that “a lot of people” find base jumping saves their lives—giving purpose where there was none. Scotty knows that feeling well, crediting the sport with seeing him through his toughest times. And others like Espen simply beam about the “enormous joy” it brings, calling themselves “dreamers” chasing life’s bigger highs.
While outsiders may view it as utterly “selfish,” the athletes understand both sides. Aspen acknowledged, being a pro requires prioritizing BASE over all else. But for these thrill-seekers, fully embracing life’s fleeting moments outweighs any selfishness. As one mourned, “I don’t want to look at a nice sunset and say I wish I’d seen more of them.”
Of course, such risks demand intensive training. We see regiments focused on perfecting parachute skills and learning wingsuit techniques, like flying in formation. Safety is paramount, especially for instructors Jimmy and Marta. Even so, accidents remain a sobering reality they reluctantly accept, like grieving loved ones lost along the way.
In the end, their reasons may remain somewhat opaque to those on the ground. But theres no denying BASE jumpers sheer joy soaring natures canvas, tasting the sky in ways mere mortals can but imagine. Whatever drives them, Fly brings audiences as close to understanding as safely floating along the winds will ever allow.
Soaring Through the Skies with Cameras in Hand
Fly truly shines thanks to its aerial cinematography. Through stabilized cameras mounted to helmets, we fly alongside these daredevils with vertigo-inducing views of icy peaks and deep canyons stretching as far as the eye can see. It’s no wonder audiences marvel at such majestic sights playing out on IMAX’s immense screens.
Beyond natural vistas, helmet cameras place us directly in those hair-raising first jumps, capturing adrenaline-fueled elation and terror with startling intimacy. Interview scenes also feel candid, more like chatting with an old friend than a documentary subject. This ease stems from shooting stretched over half a decade, as real bonds developed between filmmakers and featured friends.
Fittingly, Clusiau and Schwarz’s choice of soundtrack songs like Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” match the bittersweet mood when tragedy strikes. Avicii’s “The Lights” lifts spirits in joyous moments, mirroring the rush described. Through technical skills and close relationships built, Fly brings audiences astonishingly close to its subjects’ world, letting thrills and fears alike truly soar.
Facing Fear Together
Each daring duo in Fly faces BASE’s risks, but none alone. Their relationships prove central to understanding why they continue.
Take Espen and Amber. Their love faced a brutal test when she ruptured vertebrae in a faulty wingsuit landing. But through a long recovery, their bond grew unbreakable—a reassurance of life’s beauty, however brief.
Or Scotty, whose military past left wounds soothed by BASE’s thrill. With lawyer-turned-jumper Julia beside him as wife and mother, even impending fatherhood brings him peace instead of fear.
Jimmy’s natural knack for leadership in founding Apex keeps fellow flyers’ spirits up. While Marta, also helping rookies and vets alike for decades, retains calm where others see only peril.
Each Fly subject radiates zest for the sky. But it’s their partnerships balancing daring with duty of care, celebration with acceptance of life’s fragility, that resonate long after. Through intimacy rare in docs, we feel their fire to live free—and understand the shadows following those who dare too close to the sun.
Their stories of tests together, joy together, and loss together show love elevating risk into something beautiful when we face fear not alone but hand in hand.
Facing Fear, Finding Freedom
Fly delivers its message with visceral impact. We witness elite athletes achieve sublime feats amid constant peril. Yet beyond spectacle, a deeper theme resonates—these daredevils’ relentless quests cultivate purpose where others find only emptiness.
Always, mortality’s grimspecter looms. We feel anguish when tragedy strikes. Still, the jumpers continue unfazed, as if resigned to risk’s ruthless realities. The film seems less celebratory than reflective of what drives folks to livelihood’s outer edges.
In following love’s intertwinings amid life’s brevities too, a poignant finale arrives. One couple faces their greatest plunge yet—into parenthood and groundedness. Another meets fate, a grim coda commenting on passion’s price. We’re left contemplating what makes fleeting joys worthwhile and how full some lives feel, though tragically foreshortened.
Fly lets real individuals’ complexity shine through—passion, partnership, an unwavering urge to taste life without reserve. Ultimately, it questions not these athletes’ audacity but society’s myopic refusal to empathize with lives lived beyond “safety’s” pale. Its parting scenes linger with thoughtful provocation on all our lives’ highest stakes.
Leaping into the Great Unknown
This daredevil documentary takes audiences to thrilling heights and chilling depths. Over its filming, lives end, but the quest lives on for Fly’s featured few. Through breathtaking cinematography, we feel the pure joy and terror of wings and parachutes battling gravity.
But more than spectacle, the film offers poignant portraits of those compelled to defy limits, if only for fleeting moments of transcendence. Their willingness to risk all for beauty’s glimpse, even as death’s shadow looms, says more about life and its brevity than mere thrill-seeking ever could.
Fly invites us to imagine how it might feel careening off cliffs when others imagine only disaster. Yet more than daredevils’ rush, it presents philosophy on fully embracing life’s uncertainties with calm acceptance of fate. In the finale’s touching portraits, we glimpse how passion nurtures purpose and meaningful bonds buoy even life’s darkest leaps.
For those eager to soar as close as safety allows to humanity’s final frontier, Fly brings an experience not to miss. But perhaps its greatest gift lies in thoughtful reflection on living without regret—and loving without reserve—in a world where tomorrow owns no guarantee.
The Review
Fly
Fly soars where few dare tread, offering an intimate glimpse into the rare brotherhood of those who have tasted wings' freedom. Breathtaking cinematography places viewers among the very clouds, but the film's greatest feats involve navigating life's murkiest unknowns with grace, gusto, and enduring bonds between kindred spirits. Though thrills entice, Fly's most poignant lessons linger on squeezing passion from fleeting moments and cultivating purpose amid peril—an ode to making the most of our brief flights that lingers long after the final fall.
PROS
- Stunning aerial cinematography that puts viewers right in the action
- Intimate first-person perspectives through helmet cameras
- Inspirational portraits of daring individuals living unconventionally
- Philosophical examinations of risk-taking, mortality, and passion
- Captures the palpable energy and community bonding of extreme sports.
CONS
- Lacks technical details on the mechanics and skills of base jumping
- At times, it lacks narrative cohesion over its seven-year filming span.
- Could have explored varying demographics within the sport more.
