The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is now streaming on Netflix.
By Greg Wheeler
While the media continues to wage war against video games, citing it as a form of “promoting violence”, in reality, gaming can unlock opportunities and emotions that very few other mediums can. There’s a whole litany of different games out there, catering for a wide and varied demographic.
Gaming can also be used to help medical conditions and improve cognition, along with avoiding any stigmas that come from those with disabilities or handicaps that may be treated differently “IRL.”
This is where The Remarkable Life of Ibelin comes in. This sentimental, heartfelt ode to a brilliantly kind and witty man challenges preconceptions and in doing so, delivers one of the best documentaries of the year.
The film centers on a Norwegian gamer called Mats Steen. Suffering from a degenerative muscular disease called Duchenne, Mats sadly passed away at the age of 25. His parents mourned what they believed was a lonely and isolated life, until a slew of emails changed everything.
Through piecing together fragments of his online persona, Trude and Robert (alongside Mats’ sister Mia) are shocked when they discover a whole online world that Mats was a part of, clocking in at a whopping 20,000 hours of playtime through World of Warcraft.
This considerable chunk of time saw him forge bonds with fellow quest-seekers under the alias of Ibelin, a dragon-slaying, kickass detective with wit and charisma to match that of Mats’ real life persona.
Through animated recreations, we see Mat’s online life (without all the grindy leveling up and loot collecting) while also hearing from those whose lives he touched the most while playing WOW. This includes his online girlfriend (of sorts) Lisette and various other players too.
The documentary peppers in narration from Mats’ own blog, giving the film an authentic voice, while we’re also graciously given footage from Mats’ funeral too. This is certainly an emotional endeavor and having heard everything across the course of the film, it’s hard not to get emotional at it all.
Ultimately, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin extends beyond the confines of a standard, tear-jerking documentary. It shows the benefits of having a community and the boundless nature of friendships – especially in an online space.
The film makes a damn good case that videogames can be a positive force in one’s life (something that seems like gold dust in this media-rich landscape of “video games = bad”). This is a really solid watch and whether you’re a fan of games or not, there’s no question that Mats’ life was special, and he touched many people. And this documentary shows exactly how in this beautifully reconstructed tribute to a wonderful soul.
I give The Remarkable Life of Ibelin a B+.
TV and City 