The Remarkable Life of Idelin (2024)

The Remarkable Life of Idelin is a Norwegian documentary that gives us that necessary reality check, the slap in the back of the head that tells us: “stop complaining, you already have what you need to be happy”.

This documentary explores the short life of Mats Steen, a young man who lived much of his life prostrate, gradually losing his mobility due to a degenerative muscle disease, until his death at the age of 25.

His parents, devastated to see that their son had departed without having fully experienced love and friendship, sought solace in a blog he kept and decided to announce his passing in a publication.

From that moment on, they discovered that Mats had enjoyed love and friendship in a way they never imagined: in the world of World of Warcraft, where he touched and changed the lives of many people.

The documentary is based on dialogue from his WoW sessions and his blog, which leads us to appreciate both the form and the substance of this story.

The background is beautiful, as he literally adapts his dialogues into a WoW-style animation, accompanied by interviews with his virtual friends.

The weak points are in the form, as presenting all the dialogues in such a “literal” way, they sometimes come off as a bit clumsy.

The magic of 'The singular life of Ibelin' is not precisely the game, it is the story through it.

The heart of a man who helped many people, who to this day prevails in their hearts.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy took the life of a beautiful person, and between all those who once knew him, they managed to make Mats Steen live forever through this beautiful documentary.

I cannot deny that this documentary has touched my heart, and even though 10 years have passed, I wish the Steen family all the best.