“The Walk” could make you sick. Really.
Some vertiginous viewers have been caught off balance by the 3D flick about the daredevil who walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers – feeling downright queasy by the perceived height.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Frenchman Philippe Petit, who snuck to the top of the World Trade Center on Aug. 7, 1974, and performed his death-defying act 1,362 feet above the ground without a net.
Director Robert Zemeckis said after the first screening at the New York Film Festival over the weekend that he actually wanted audiences to experience vertigo, Business Insider reported.
He apparently got his wish – and then some.
“The last 20 minutes of the film I had to look away a couple of times because of the sensation of the height. I felt a little bit queasy. I felt nervous. It was a tingling sensation and some anxiety,” said Denise Widman, board director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival who is in town for the film festival.
Others had it even worse. Journalist Mark Harris tweeted: “Reports of guys vomiting in the Alice Tully men’s rm post-The Walk: True. Witnessed it/came close. Bad visual trigger for vertigo sufferers.”
The Oscar-winning documentary “Man On Wire” – which was based on Petit’s 2002 memoir “To Reach the Clouds” – featured first-hand accounts and photographs because the feat wasn’t captured in film footage from above.
In “The Walk,” computer-generated wizardry immerses moviegoers in the stomach-churning scenes – often peering into the abyss with the majestic Gotham skyline as a backdrop.
A 2013 study found that about 55 percent of 497 people who watched a 3D movie reported at least one physical complaint. About 1 in 10 felt queasy, the study in the journal PLoS ONE found.
The reason some people are more susceptible to the discomfort is due to the mismatch between the distance at which our eyes converge and at which they focus.
“Viewing 3D movies can increase rating of nausea, oculomotor and disorientation. Analogous to riding a roller coaster, for most individuals the increases in symptoms is part of the 3D experience,” the study said.
Percival Arguero-Mendoza, 30, a filmmaker from Mexico City who saw the movie with his gal pal, said the most sickening part was when the character lay on the cable.
“It felt very real. I felt a knot in my stomach. It’s like my head was reeling but I was not dizzy,” he said. “The audience got a fear of him falling. It’s like actually picturing in your mind him falling. You really get a sense of depth.”
The movie, which hits IMAX screens Wednesday, will be widely released Oct. 9.