The first trailer for The Remarkable Life of Ibelin pairs real accounts of Mats Steen’s life with animated scenes set in World of Warcraft. The fantasy is the setting and visual language; the friendships the film depicts were real. Mats, who died at 25, played as Ibelin, and his parents learned after his death that his online community had been a significant part of his life.
Who was Ibelin?
Mats Steen was a Norwegian gamer who lived with a degenerative muscular disease. In World of Warcraft, he played a character named Ibelin. After Mats died at 25, his parents, Robert and Trude Steen, initially believed he had lived an isolated life. Messages from people in the game community revealed friendships and connections they had not known about.
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The trailer follows that shift in understanding. It moves among family reflections, accounts from Mats’s online friends, and Mats describing Azeroth as a place where he could act beyond the constraints of his physical condition. In the trailer transcript, Mats says, “In there, my chains are broken, and I can be whoever I want to be.”
What the trailer means by “reality and fantasy”
The film uses animation to reconstruct moments from Mats’s recorded gameplay. Those sequences take place in the fantasy world of World of Warcraft; they are not scenes from Mats’s offline life. Netflix describes them as “reconstructed animated moments from Mats’ gameplay.” The documentary also draws on Mats’s blog entries and interviews with people who knew him as Ibelin.
#1 Best Overall
That distinction matters: the characters, bodies, and settings shown in the game are fantastical, but the experiences and relationships represented are grounded in Mats’s play and the accounts of his community. Animation gives the film a way to portray online encounters that conventional family footage could not show.
How animation and testimony work together
Benjamin Ree directed the documentary. Its storytelling combines animated reconstructions with interviews, narrated blog material, and family accounts. The trailer’s movement between these forms makes the gap in the Steens’ understanding visible: they are learning about a social world Mats had built online, while viewers see parts of that world recreated on screen.
Robert’s line, “You proved us wrong. You proved us so wrong,” is addressed to Mats in the trailer. It reflects the family’s changed understanding after hearing from the people who had known him through the game.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Release dates listed for the film
Netflix’s Media Center lists select U.S. theatrical screenings beginning October 18, 2024, followed by a U.S. Netflix release on October 25, 2024 at 7:00 AM GMT. Those are historical U.S. release details; they do not establish current availability in every country.
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Rank #4
- Includes DVD
- Can Also Be Used as a Refresher for Those Who Used to Be Able to Read Music But Have Forgotten How
- Standard Notation
- Publisher: Music Sales America
- 80 Pages
Rank #3
- Format: DVD
- Language: English
- Subtitle: English, Korean, None (All removable)
- Region Code: Region 0 (1/2/3/4/5/6)
- Screen: NTSC / Wide Screen Color
Sources
- Netflix trailer and transcript
- Netflix Media Center film listing and synopsis
- IMDb film listing
- The Verge’s 2024 trailer report
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
