THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN: 2024 (Available for streaming on Netfllx) The Remarkable Life of Ibelin is about Mats Steen, a Norwegian man who died in 2014 at the age of 25. Mats lived out his final years nearly immobilized, the result of being born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare inherited disease which presently has no cure. When Mats Steen died from a muscle-wasting disorder, his parents thought his short life had been tragically lonely. Then the emails started to arrive when his online friends contact his family after his death. Their son had lived by another name. To his family he had simply been Mats. But within the gaming “World of Warcraft“ he had existed for years as a charismatic adventurer named “Ibelin,” a strapping swashbuckler with auburn hair tied back in a ponytail . And it was as this digital alter ego that Mats had thrived in a way his family never appreciated. This documentary was not only a tear jerker but also a fascinating and positive insight into gaming. Mats used to run through the forest and town for half an hour every time he logged in, one of many things he couldn't do in real life. Mats had long been leading a vibrant digital life that had left a profound impact on a community of fellow gamers.  I wept at several points in the film, sometimes through sadness, sometimes through joy. GRADE A