Ben X

The addictive and immersive nature of role-playing computer games is the potentially fruitful subject of this intriguing, interestingly directed but overambitious and scrappy debut from Belgian writer-director Nic Balthazar. Ben (Greg Timmermans) is an insular, autistic schoolboy who spends much of his time playing the sprawling fantasy game ‘Archlord’ as an invincible, sword-wielding barbarian under the pseudonym of ‘Ben X’, while his e-courtship of an attractive fellow gamer is the only thing lifting his chin above the incessant bullying at school.

Timmermans offers a rabbit-in-the-headlights performance which becomes more wearing the longer it’s up on screen, as does Balthazar’s tendency to discard ideas just as quickly as he hatches them. The film’s moral, technological and psychological themes are glazed over, and the manner in which Ben finally conquers his personal demons is laughably overblown.