In the Greek myth Icarus, a young man yearns to fly.  His father warns him not to fly too close to the sun because his wings may melt, but he doesn’t listen, and he falls into the sea and dies. 

Hubris seems to go hand and hand with a feeling of invincibility. And hubris is the theme of the Oscar-nominated documentary ‘Icarus’. 

 The film opens when filmmaker and star, Bryan Fogel, decides he’d like to document himself using performance-enhancing drugs to prepare for a cycle race to see if he, too, can be another Lance Armstrong.  In order to choose the right race cocktail, he enlists the aid of Grigory Rodchenkov—an amoral Russian doctor—who becomes the anti-hero of this story.

The film quickly moves from experiential doc to investigative thriller while keeping the viewer locked in.  Something big is brewing here—-and its ripple effect continues on the Olympic stage.  Since I want you to see Icarus, that’s as much as we can say without giving away too much.

Icarus premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival where it won the first-ever Special Jury Orwell Award. 

It has also been nominated for the 2018 OSCAR, BAFTA, and DGA awards.

Personally, we think it has a strong chance of winning an Oscar.

BTW it’s streaming on Netflix—so mix up your own performance-enhancing drink and watch this newsworthy film.