Michael Bay’s First Documentary Was So Dangerous To Shoot He Wasn’t Allowed On Set [SXSW] – SlashFilm

Few administrators are as devoid of subtlety as Michael Bay. He’s a filmmaker who can flip any kind of scene into an motion scene and infrequently movies quieter moments like he is capturing a film’s climax. However whereas Bay has crafted loads of spectacular motion scenes up to now, his newest movie may be his most audacious and spectacular work so far. It was additionally extraordinarily harmful to shoot, a lot in order that Bay was legally unable to be anyplace close to the set whereas the cameras have been rolling.

Whenever you hear the phrases “A documentary by Michael Bay,” many ideas come to thoughts. Nonetheless, upon watching “We Are Storror,” you come to appreciate that, in fact, dying-defying parkour daredevils who carry out outlandish stunts on the common could be the topic that captured Bay’s consideration.

There was only one tiny drawback. As a member of the Administrators Guild of America, Bay was legally sure to make sure any set he works on is threat-free, and as protected as humanly doable. After all, a film about individuals who bounce throughout rooftops tons of of toes above floor is something however threat-free.

“I stated, ‘I do not care to know something you are doing. I don’t approve of it. What you are doing is prohibited. That is utterly incorrect,'” Bay defined throughout a Q&A after the premiere of “We Are Storror” at SXSW. “I am not doing something on this. I am not a producer. I am not a director, so overlook my identify, name me later, and I will take a look at the footage and see if I license it.”

Bay and his authorized staff spent precise years determining find out how to make “We Are Storror” in a approach that would not place the director in authorized hazard ought to something go incorrect (and many did). The important thing was that he wouldn’t be allowed on set or be concerned with filming in any respect. “I couldn’t be concerned in any approach, form or kind,” Bay famous on the Q&A. He could not even have information of the footage till it was all shot and everybody was alive and nicely — to the purpose the place a giant accident that occurred early on throughout filming was full information to Bay when he discovered about it a lot, a lot later.

“We Are Storror” tells the story of Storror, a YouTube parkour staff comprised of a gaggle of parkour artists from London (two units of brothers and three mates). The staff had beforehand labored with Bay on the parkour scenes in “6 Underground,” a film that has one of many worst posters of all time.

As you’d anticipate based mostly on the idea, Bay’s involvement, and Storror’s historical past of unbelievable and wild stunts, “We Are Storror” has a few of the most intense and gorgeous motion stunts put to display in 2025. The various drone pictures that monitor Storror’s extremely choreographed stunts are simply as breathtakingly shot and edited as these in Bay’s thriller “Ambulance.” In the meantime, the acrobatics themselves are as visceral because the climactic climb from “Free Solo,” solely they happen each 10 minutes as a substitute of merely on the finish. For those who endure from vertigo, you’ll have a nasty time with this film … and even for those who do not, you may nonetheless go away the theater with sweaty palms and a brand new appreciation for by no means having to carry out any of those harmful stunts in your personal life.

Certainly, even with out explosions or shootouts, “We Are Storror” appears like a Michael Bay challenge because of the sheer spectacle of watching these British of us defy gravity on rooftops in Malta or run with monkeys on Indian rooftops. Whether or not you are already a fan of the group or that is the primary time you are listening to about them, their globe-throttling journey is inspiring.

Along with the extreme parkour scenes, the factor that makes “We Are Storror” an excellent documentary is its poignant exploration of male bonding. Although Bay was not concerned within the precise capturing, he did have one massive word for the members of Storror: “Shoot all the pieces.” That included the preparation course of for every stunt, the meticulous planning for the choreography, the dusting of the positioning so they do not encounter any surprises, the mess-ups, and their doubts. These are issues the group at all times leaves out of their YouTube movies, so to incorporate them right here made all of the distinction.

You see, the movie begins with the eponymous group working towards their newest stunt at a Portuguese dam earlier than a good friend of theirs suffers a horrifying accident. This occasion casts a shadow on the remainder of the film, as the assorted members of Storror react in a different way to this close to-dying expertise. In spite of everything, they’re not youngsters, however males of their 30s whose our bodies do not reply the identical approach to all the damage and tear. We be taught the sacrifices they’ve made for the group, forsaking research and different profession paths, and see the beginnings of their doubts and regrets as they notice that perhaps they need not nonetheless be risking their lives for a YouTube video.

Very like “Jackass Without end,” there is a melancholic vibe to “We Are Storror.” The movie may be a celebration of their journey thus far, but it surely’s additionally a little bit of a coda to no less than one period of their profession. There is a little bit of a Peter Pan Syndrome side to the documentary and the way these guys principally achieved their dream approach too early. Now, they should reckon with the vulnerability of maturity, the naïveté of youth, the worth of turning your interest right into a job, and likewise the foolhardiness of harmful stunts, all of which make for poignant themes that the documentary explores with care and empathy.

Storror will proceed making movies (they’ve shot a number of within the time since this film was being edited) and Michael Bay will proceed making massive, ridiculous movies. Nonetheless, “We Are Storror” reveals a special facet of each creatives that I want we might see extra of sooner or later.