(Credits: Netflix)

A new Netflix documentary, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, was released this week. The story that inspired the film is one of the most moving and remarkable in recent years. It follows the story of Mats Steen and the life he made for himself despite physical challenges.

Mats was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is a genetic disorder that sparked early-onset muscle weakness. It meant that he sadly passed away at the age of 25, and by the time he died, he only had the use of his fingers. With all the physical limitations that impeded his life, his parents believed he was quite lonely.

“We strongly believed that he was lonely,” Mats’s father, Robert Steen, said in an interview (via The Independent), “That he had no meaning for other people.” Robert believed this until the day Mats passed away; however, he was proven wrong after a blog post announcing Mats’s death revealed the true extent of his life, which was layered and thriving within the online realm of World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft is an online role-playing game in which people can create their own fantasy characters, participate in quests, make friends, and even spark romantic relations. When Mats’s parents announced his death in a blog post, they couldn’t believe how many friends their son had made on World of Warcraft.

Inside the online role-player, Mats took on the persona of Ibelin Redmoore, a muscular nobleman and monster slayer who was renowned as a great player and a romantic. Within the online world, he formed a deep connection with a barrage of different people and gave his life much more depth than his parents expected.

“We thought he lived, for many reasons, a wasted life,” said Robert, “And then we get these stories sharing just the opposite.”

The new Netflix documentary will follow the story of Mats and his diagnosis, as well as the double life he lived in World of Warcraft. It will feature stories from his parents, the internet community and some voice-acted lines that depict conversations Mats had within the game. The story is remarkable, and the movie is profoundly moving, focusing on the positive side of technology and how it helped one man who was physically limited to live an in-depth, rich, and complex life in the modern era. 

Robert spoke about how he feels slight regret at not being more involved in his son’s online life. “The sad thing is that we were very strong on condemning the time they were spending in that world, and that condemnation was based on a five-minute analysis,” he said, “We did all the right things, and we were so present in our children’s lives. With one exception – and that is the digital part of their lives.”

Watch the trailer for The Remarkable Life of Ibelin below.