The great thing about video games is you can be whomever or whatever you want.
For the troubled and awkward Ben, tormented by high school bullies, escaping into ArchLord (he's on Level 80) allows him to become the heroic Ben X, expert fighter and savior of his regular online gaming partner, Scarlite. In "Ben X," Ben (Greg Timmermans) and Scarlite (Laura Verlinden) might even meet in the real world some day.
Writer-director Nic Balthazar opens with the ominous warning that in video games, and life, "someone always has to die." The difference is that on the digital side, "you always get a new life." Swimming somewhere in the stormy waters between the two are Ben's chances of finding a greater sense of his true self.
Cutting from documentary-style interviews to flashbacks, to Ben's life, to Ben's gaming world, Balthazar cleverly creates a film that is sharp-edged, touching and relevant.
Timmermans is terrific as the young lost soul. He hopes to harness the power and sharp confidence from ArchLord, but will he ever find a role to play in the physical world?
Clint O'Connor ~ Cleveland Plain Dealer
March, 2008
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