Darkon

If you realized that you had allied yourself with dark forces that preached liberty but practiced war and imperialism, what would you do? Unlike Tony Blair, Skip Lipman of suburban Maryland decided that he could no longer stand to be linked to such evil, so he told his former friend Kenyon Wells, warlord of Mordom, that it was time to end the violence. Thus begins the tale of Darkon, where people in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area dress up like fantasy knights and wizards and bop each other—truly and with great force—with weapons made of foam. The imaginary realm of a live-action fantasy game changes the lives of the people who play it in this documentary that combines pretend conflict with real drama, basement living and castle dwelling, day care and dark elves. Far more human, intriguing, tense and dramatic than either Lord of the Rings: The Two Hours or Harry Potter and the Things Made of Stuff could hope to be.