Netflix subscribers are urging people to watch a ‘gorgeous’ new documentary film on the platform, which caused many to ‘ugly cry’ thanks to its inspirational and heartwarming message.
It’s also been praised as ‘one of the best things you’ll see all year’ and a movie that ‘makes you want to scream about it from the rooftops’.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, which has a stunning 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, has been making waves online and reducing viewers to tearful messes with its incredible real story.
It follows Norwegian World of Warcraft enthusiast Mats Steen, who died at the age of just 25 from a rare degenerative muscular disease.
Unbeknown to his parents though, who mourned a short life of missed opportunities, Mats enjoyed a rich secret life as a gamer, which was uncovered when his online friends contacted his family after his death and is ‘vividly reimagined’ in the film.
‘As he became more dependent on his wheelchair, his gaming time and screen time increased dramatically,’ his father Robert explains of his progressive muscular dystrophy in the trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary.
‘Our deepest sorrow lay in the fact that he wouldn’t experience friendship, love or to make a difference in other people’s lives. But you proved us wrong, you proved us so wrong.’
In fact, it turned out that Mats had been enjoying an amazing parallel online life as a legend among the World of Warcraft community thanks to his avatar, Ibelin.
He had formed deep friendships with players from countries like Britain, Denmark and Spain, and a touching 10-year online relationship with a player called Lisette from the Netherlands.
Mats’ online alter ego Ibelin, a private investigator, had even been accused of being a womaniser thanks to various romances, which his father admitted ‘was a shocking, pleasing moment’.
‘One of the best things you’ll see all year. The kind of film that instantly makes you want to scream about it from the rooftops. A life-affirming piece of art that makes you glad to share this world with the people you love,’ praised Dan Drambles on X after watching the documentary.
‘This made me ugly cry and yet feel so inspired,’ shared Sai M alongside a five-star audience review on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, where The Remarkable Life of Ibelin also boasts a very impressive 96% audience rating.
‘I have not cried so much watching a film for a very long time,’ admitted Jonathan S, while @voEROSttv wrote: ‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is one of the most gorgeous things ever. Everyone should watch it. *Please* watch it.’
@KLeCrone added that they ‘can’t recommend this documentary enough’ while @lavendarvarya promised that it was ‘worth every second you’ll spend watching it’.
‘Just finished watching The Remarkable Life of Ibelin and I’m not OK. I’ve been crying for 20 mins,’ shared Amber on social media, who said that they would ‘highly recommend’ the documentary to everyone, ‘even if you don’t play WoW’.
‘I’m not ashamed to say it had me weeping for most of it, chimed in @mk_tbone of Mats. ‘He touched many lives through WoW and now through this documentary his life will continue to impact so many more.’
To mark the release of the documentary film to Netflix on Friday, World of Warcraft players banded together to leave a carpet of candles and flowers at the in-game memorial in tribute to Mats and Ibelin.
Emphasising the scale of this impressive homage, Matt Neglia explained on X alongside a photo of the gathered players and items: ‘Each candle is lit by a player, and they only last for 15 minutes at a time with more coming to ensure the tribute continues. Each player must travel to a specific location to purchase the candles and they cannot be shared with other players.’
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is streaming exclusively on Netflix now.
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