‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin’: How Norwegian Filmmakers Turned Mats Steen’s Online Life into a Netflix Oscar Contender
In Benjamin Ree's documentary, Steen's parents learn about their son's rich social life as an avid 'World of Warcraft' gamer after he dies of a degenerative neuromuscular disease.
In early 2024, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where Netflix quickly snatched it up for worldwide distribution. Now shortlisted for the 2025 Academy Awards, Benjamin Ree’s documentary tells the story of Mats Steen, a young Norwegian who died at 25 from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an inherited and incurable degenerative neuromuscular disorder.
His parents, Robert and Trude, believed their son had spent his final years in isolation, spending thousands of hours in World of Warcraft, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, as the hunky blond warrior “Ibelin.” But after posting about his death on his blog, they discovered their son had touched countless lives through his virtual presence. Related Stories Movies Warwick Davis, 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars' Actor, Set to Receive BAFTA's Highest Honor Movies PGA Awards to Honor Lynda Obst and Paula Weinstein With Posthumous Trailblazer Tribute
Through a combination of family video archives, blog entries, and reconstructed gaming footage, director Ree pieced together the story of how Mats found friendship, love, and purpose in an online world his parents never fully understood.
