Melted boots on smoking lava flows and dancing by craters amidst volcanic eruptions are just two of the extraordinary things you’ll witness in “Fire of Love,” rated PG, opening at Lincoln Theater Friday.

This new documentary, from filmmaker Sara Dosa, chronicles the lives and deaths of French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft. You do not want to miss the film Variety called “The most staggering, terrifying, and beautiful imagery of nature ever recorded.”

“Fire of Love” tells the story of two French lovers, mischievous and charming geochemist Katia and showboating geologist Maurice. The Kraffts died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of our planet, while simultaneously capturing the most explosive volcano imagery ever recorded. Along the way, they changed our understanding of the natural world, and saved tens of thousands of lives. Previously unseen hours of pristine 16-millimeter film and thousands of photographs reveal the birth of modern volcanology through an unlikely lens — the love of its two pioneers.

This award-winning documentary and New York Times Critics Pick tells an explosive story that is part science and part poetry. The French celebrity volcanologist couple left behind hundreds of hours of footage and thousands of photos, capturing the multiple, unpredictable personalities of the volcanoes they studied. The closer they got to the boiling earth, the more their curiosity became all-consuming and grew stronger than their fear. In their red wool caps, silver insulated jumpsuits, and metal helmets that extended over their shoulders for protection from molten debris, the Kraffts risked their lives, studying killer volcanoes, and hoping to discover patterns that would enable people living in the path of destruction to escape. “Fire of Love” preserves their incredible work and unforgettable human presence. In A.O. Scott’s New York Times review, he states, “The sheer existence of these photos is mind-boggling when you think about how close the people with the cameras must have been to the lava and the smoke.”

“Fire of Love” opens at Damariscotta’s historic Lincoln Theater Friday, Sept. 16, and continues through Thursday Sept. 22. Tickets are available at the door beginning 30 minutes before showtime, or in advance through the theater’s online box office at LincolnTheater.net. Lincoln Theater is located at 2 Theater St. in downtown Damariscotta.