“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” pleases as much as it surprises

Some people lead disreputable secret lives which they hide for obvious reasons. That is decidedly not the case for Mats Steen, the subject of Norwegian director Benjamin Ree's wonderful documentary, "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin." That Ibelin is an appealing gamer's persona is merely the first surprise, especially given the internet's world of toxic, exploitive frauds.

Instead, Ibelin offers a warm, supportive, powerful character within the World of Warcraft. That gamers' environment of friendship and love, action and beauty contrasts shockingly with the young man who created that internet presence. For Mats Steen, born with incurable Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an incurable, degenerative muscular disease that progresses unalterably. Mats died in 2014 at 25 years of age. Only then did his hidden life emerge.

Through the World of Warcraft, Mats actively, brilliantly engaged for years with other gamers who knew nothing of him beyond his imaginative, vivacious on-line involvement. By contrast, Mats' parents, Robert and Trude, had no awareness of the community Mats enjoyed. In fact, because of Mats' physical restrictions, they grieved for his isolation. In the documentary, his father Robert makes a heartbreaking comment, saying, "Our deepest regret was that he would never experience friends, love, or make a difference in other people's lives." Trude explains that they thought Mats just casually played on screen. To everyone's surprise, Mats' blog, found after his death, asserts the opposite, calling the game "a gateway to whatever your heart desires."  

At a virtual press conference this year, Robert asserts his resistance to a film about Mats, feeling it was too personal and emotional, until he realized the gift of Mats' experiences. Bringing them to life, director Ree establishes the basic details early in the film and then quotes from Mats' blog before plunging into the animated, avatar world Mats inhabited, the game personas and the real, physical individuals with whom he interacted. The discoveries present a journey merging the real with the fantastic in a way I've never experienced before this remarkable documentary.

At last year's True/False Festival in Columbia, Missouri, this deeply moving exploration stunned audiences, a reminder of how little is sometimes known about a rich, complex life of someone like Mats.  Coming along just when an uplifting film is most welcome and needed, "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" is available for streaming on Netflix.