The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Netflix release poster
Directed by	Benjamin Ree
Produced by	Ingvil Giske
Cinematography	Rasmus Tukia Tore Vollan
Edited by	Robert Stengård
Music by	Uno Helmersson
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19) (Sundance)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	Norway
Languages	English Norwegian

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin (originally titled Ibelin) is a 2024 Norwegian documentary film directed by Benjamin Ree.

Synopsis

Mats Steen, a Norwegian man born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, becomes increasingly unable to participate in everyday activities. As a result, he spends most of his time playing video games, particularly World of Warcraft. His parents worry that it may cause him to miss out on life, unaware of what he does in the game.

Towards the end of his life, he starts a blog about living with his disease. When he dies at the age of 25, he leaves behind the password for his family. They use the blog to announce his death, which leads to dozens of people replying. The film tells the story of his life in the World of Warcraft guild Starlight—where he played the character Ibelin Redmoore—through animations based on the game, interspersed with retrospectives from his guild members, family, and excerpts from his blog.

As Ibelin, Mats kept his real life identity and his medical condition a secret, worried that other guild members would treat him differently if they knew. To help hide his identity, he refused to communicate in any other form than text, but he still developed close relationships with other guild members. He was perceived as a reliable friend they could share their problems with.

Mats’ condition worsens over time, and it becomes harder for him to play the game. He appears more agitated, causing drama regarding his relationships in the guild, eventually leading him to lash out at some of the guild members. As Mats’ condition deteriorates, he develops severe breathing difficulties and has to be hospitalised. A friend from the guild becomes concerned regarding Mats’ absence, and confronts him about it. Mats decides to tell that friend about his condition, and expresses his fear of other people finding out. His friend encourages Mats to tell the other guild members, and Mats decides to apologise to the guild about his previous behaviour. He later shares his blog with them.

Eventually, Mats dies from muscular dystrophy. Five guild members from abroad attend his funeral in Oslo. The rest gather in the game, which becomes a yearly tradition. The film ends with a shot of his tombstone, which reads Mats "Ibelin" Steen.

Release

Ibelin premiered on 19 January 2024 in the World Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won 2 awards, the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary and The Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary. Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film. The film continued to screen at festivals such as the Chicago Critics Film Festival in May and the New Zealand International Film Festival in August, with the title expanded to The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. It has been selected for the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024, under the World Cinema section.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Variety praised the film, stating "It’s a world unto itself, and a glowing example of how moviemaking—like a person’s digital footprint—can be a form of immortality that soothes even the most devastating loss." Other reviews were also extremely positive. Cineeuropa found that Ree "ends up with a film that’s not about death; rather, it’s about friendship, love and life."

Accolades

Award	Date	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
Sundance Film Festival	28 January 2024	World Cinema Documentary – Grand Jury Prize	The Remarkable Life of Ibelin	Nominated
		World Cinema Documentary – Audience Award		Won
		World Cinema Documentary – Directing	Benjamin Ree	Won
Amanda Awards	23 August 2024	Best Film	Benjamin Ree & Ingvil Giske	Won
		Best Documentary Film		Nominated
		Best Director	Benjamin Ree	Nominated
		Best Editing	Robert Stengård	Won
		Best Visual Effects	Rasmus Tukia, Ada Wikdahl, Chris Kongshaug, Derek Bancroft, Sindre Hammersbøen & Arash Ebrahimi	Nominated
Zurich Film Festival	13 October 2024	Best International Documentary Film	The Remarkable Life of Ibelin	Nominated
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards	10 November 2024	Best Documentary Feature		Nominated
		Best Biographical Documentary		Nominated
		Best Director	Benjamin Ree	Nominated
		Best Score	Uno Helmersson	Nominated
		Best Editing	Robert Stengård	Nominated
International Documentary Association Awards	5 December 2024	Best Feature Documentary	Benjamin Ree, Ingvil Giske	Pending
		Best Original Music Score	Uno Helmersson	Pending
European Film Awards	7 December 2024	European Young Audience Award	The Remarkable Life of Ibelin	Won
Astra Film Awards	8 December 2024	Best Documentary Feature		Pending
Cinema Eye Honors	9 January 2025	Audience Choice Prize		Pending
		Outstanding Visual Design	Rasmus Tukia and Ada Wikdahl	Pending
		Outstanding Original Score	Uno Helmersson	Pending

External links

• The Remarkable Life of Ibelin at IMDb