If the image above, from Joseph Gordon-Levitt's tightrope artist biopic The Walk, is already making you a bit less-than-comfortable with the state of your stomach, then be prepared to ask for an empty popcorn bag at the theater because you're probably going to vomit. After a recent press screening for the film based on the life of tightrope extraordinaire Philippe Petit, several audience members reported experiencing legitimate physical illness when seeing Gordon-Levitt attempt the digitally assisted feat:
"The last 20 minutes of the film I had to look away a couple of times because of the sensation of the height," Denise Widman, board director of the Boston Jewish Film Festival, tells the New York Post. "I felt a little bit queasy. I felt nervous. It was a tingling sensation and some anxiety."
"It felt very real," a young filmmaker from Mexico City told the Post after attending the screening. "I felt a knot in my stomach. It’s like my head was reeling but I was not dizzy. 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." According to findings from a 2013 study, at least 55 percent of people will experience some sort of physical illness while viewing a 3D film.
The Walk is currently playing at IMAX locations across the country.
