The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): October 25, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonOct 24, 2024
A rare and beautiful thing: a moving documentary that excavates the question of the “real” in a profoundly humanistic and unconventional way. Read full review
100
Film ThreatBobby LePireJan 31, 2024
The director walks the delicate tightrope of emotions so that every new development makes previous scenes all the more intense Read full review
100
VarietySiddhant AdlakhaJan 23, 2024
With whip-smart filmmaking that weaves together the physical and digital worlds, Ibelin is powerful cinema that uses its stylistic experimentation for distinctly humanist means, breathing life into a person’s story when it seemed like there were few dimensions left to explore. Read full review
95
TheWrapLex BriscusoJan 23, 2024
Ree’s magnificent documentary takes its audience not only through the tragic elements of Mats’ life—the diagnosis of his illness, his decline, his untimely death—but the good parts, too, through effective testimony and powerful archival images, audio and video. Read full review
90
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 23, 2024
Ibelin is an overwhelming film, ugly tears all the way down. It starts off with the most unspeakable of tragedies and then, as it winds its way back through Mats’s life, becomes a bittersweet story of empowerment, acceptance, even joy. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoOct 17, 2024
It’s about empowerment, empathy, and the impact we can have on one another, even those we never meet. You’ll cry. It’s worth the tears. Read full review
85
The Daily BeastNick SchagerOct 25, 2024
Told with a sensitivity that’s matched by its subtlety, it earns the waterworks it quickly and consistently elicits. Read full review
80
EmpireJames DyerOct 25, 2024
A heartfelt digital eulogy for an unconventional but extremely human life. Read full review
80
The GuardianLeslie FelperinOct 18, 2024
By the end it’s nearly impossible not to shed a tear after the touching finesse and shape of this story. Read full review
80
ColliderTaylor GatesFeb 7, 2024
Ibelin is an effective and creative documentary about the power of online friendships. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenDec 6, 2024
The techniques ultimately reveal the way art can foster the sort of emotional connection that is vital to the human experience. Read full review
75
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 23, 2024
The film is determined to prove that people can meaningfully interact with the world in any number of ways, now more than ever, and it accomplishes that goal with real clarity and rare emotional force (the last shot is the kind of gut-punch that hurts so good). Read full review
70
Screen RantBen GibbonsOct 25, 2024
The film offers an inspiring and remarkable story of hope, creativity, and adaptability, through the eyes of Mats and his alter ego, Ibelin. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkJan 29, 2024
There’s considerable emotional truth on display throughout Benjamin Ree’s documentary. Read full review
60
Screen DailyWendy IdeJan 23, 2024
It’s a (virtual) life-affirming approach that is certainly affecting, but can feel a little disingenuous. Read full review
58
The Film StageEdward FrumkinJan 23, 2024
Ibelin thoroughly traces Mats’ existence with talking-head interviews, family home footage, original animations of Warcraft characters, a narrator reading his posts, his handwritten video game dialogue, and a mix of animation movements and character descriptions. These techniques allow Ree to symphonically center the subject without relegating family and peers to representatives Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergJan 23, 2024
The film is very invested in proving the validity of the social relationships created in virtual space. To me, that’s the easy part. Video games can absolutely be nourishing and substantive and healthy. And I’m not even sure Ibelin confirms that in a smart way. Read full review
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