What happened to Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau? Netflix’s Skywalkers: A Love Story explored

Skywalkers: A Love Story is a Netflix documentary released on July 19, 2024. It follows the story of Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, a thrill-seeking Russian couple who engage in the high-risk endeavor of climbing high-rise buildings often without authorization. The practice is known as rooftopping.

The couple has documented their rooftopping journey on social media, causing them to gain international recognition for their efforts. In the Netflix documentary, the two chronicle their ambition to scale the Merdeka 118 in Malaysia.

Skywalkers: A Love Story ends with the couple having succeeded in their goal, and monetizing their success through NFTs. They continue to pursue their shared passion for rooftopping together and have no intention of backing out.

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Skywalkers: A Love Story: The couple climbs the Merdeka 118

Angela and Ivan succeeded in their high-risk goal of scaling the Merdeka 118 (Image via Netflix)

Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau end Skywalkers: A Love Story having succeeded in their goal to scale the Merdeka 118. They also document their success on social media to push back against claims that they staged their feat. They also successfully monetized this feat by selling NFTs of their success.

Angela Nikolau met Ivan Beerkus back when he was already a popular Instagram influencer. He managed to get her to accompany him on a sponsored trip to China, where they scaled the Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin. The sponsorship leaned into the novelty of a man and a woman accomplishing a rooftopping feat together.

Angela, in particular, had discovered a niche in the roof-topping community. The space was male-dominated when she started and wanted to prove that she could not only match but outperform the people, who'd been showing off their exploits on social media.

However, the couple remains at large despite Malaysian authorities, and many others, investigating them for violating trespassing laws. Angela, who comes from a family of circus performers, has likened herself and Ivan to traveling circus performers, who make their mark on society by pursuing extreme goals.

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Skywalkers: A Love Story showcases the couple's struggles over the years

The pandemic and the regional conflict had a disruptive effect on the couple's lives (Image via Netflix)

Angela and Ivan had their rooftopping career derailed by two major events of recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The former forced the couple to stay at home and suspend their rooftopping excursions due to social distancing restrictions. This ends up putting a strain on their relationship and results in them briefly breaking up.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict led to increasing social media restrictions in Russia, as the authorities banned social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The loss of their freedom to post on Instagram also puts a strain on their ability to monetize and publicize their rooftopping feats.

The couple's decision to scale Malaysia's Merdeka 118 is in part motivated by a need for the couple to reverse their recent setbacks. They intended to pull off a stunt so daring, that it was guaranteed to make a splash in the public eye.

As part of their endeavor, Ivan and Angela knowingly flout trespassing laws, even impersonating the building security at some points to slip past them.

Ultimately, their climb is successful, and Ivan and Angela monetize their feat by launching an NFT commemorating their achievement. Ivan's parents note that they're proud of him despite the offbeat path he's taken in life.

While Angela reunites with her grandmother and gifts her new hearing aids. The ending of Skywalkers: A Love Story reaffirms that the couple remain deeply in love, and have no intention of stopping.

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Skywalkers: A Love Story is available for streaming on Netflix.