The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

by George Wolf

If you join me in sometimes wondering whether we all might have been better off if the internet was never invented, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin will turn your head.

It will also put tears in your eyes, so come prepared for a moving story about one young man’s very secret, very fulfilling life.

Norwegian Mats Steen was born with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare and degenerative muscle disease that took Mats’s life at the age of 25. As his disease progressed, Mats spent more and more time online playing World of Warcraft, leaving his parents despondent that their son would never know the simple joys of friendship, community and social interaction.

But Mats was careful to leave behind his password, And with it, his family soon discovered that Mats enjoyed all they wished for him and more as Ibelin Redemore, P.I., the role he played within a WoW community called Starlight.

And because of the the online game’s extensive archive, director Benjamin Ree (The Painter and the Thief) is able to recreate the life Mats lived inside the game.

On a broader scale, the gaming community will find plenty of reinforcement here, but the real power of this film lies in its intimacy. It is a story of empowerment, and how a special young man transcended his limitations to touch people’s lives in ways his parents could never imagine.

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is remarkable in its own right. It weaves together interviews, home movies and stylized game recreations into a journey of stirring emotion, led by one young man whose humanity would not be denied.