EXCLUSIVE: We Can Be Heroes Trailer Spotlights Young LARPers on a Path to Self-Discovery

Live action role-playing (LARP) is an international phenomenon that gives fantasy fans an opportunity to inhabit the magical lives of characters that they create. We Can Be Heroes, the documentary from directors Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, follows the exploits of a unique group of young LARPers finding their voices and their places in the larger fantasy community as they forge the personalities and relationships that will carry them into adulthood.

Check out an exclusive trailer debut for We Can Be Heroes below.

Depicting the lives and intersecting relationships of attendees at a LARP camp in upstate New York, film’s official press release describes it as a “deeply accepting environment [that] has given neurodivergent, queer, and self-proclaimed ‘nerdy’ teenagers the space and community for self-discovery that they have never found anywhere else.” We Can Be Heroes pulls back the curtain on this imaginative world, showing how the young LARPers “discover inner strength, heal from past traumas, and emerge as the heroes they are meant to be, both in the fantasy realm and in real life.” 

We Can Be Heroes has received widespread critical acclaim, winning the SXSW Documentary Feature Competition Special Jury Award for bravery and empathy in 2024. This will be the home video premiere of the documentary that’s started passionate conversation at renowned festivals including Sheffield DocFest, Mountainfilm, Seattle International Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, Nevada City Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival, and more.

Surely a breakout favorite will be Shard Dorpington, the glass-throated child who’s completely immersed in the persona of their LARP character. Tailormade for Tumblr memes, Shard represents the magical realism at the heart of We Can Be Heroes’s fascinating exploration. As we attempt to embody fantasy in our own lives, are we truly taking one step closer to altering our realities? The movie promises to deliver a range of answers that will help us find our own.

The tense string score by Dan Deacon ratchets up the intensity of the documentary, adding a sense of suspense to the intensely intimate footage of the film’s participants. It’s an approach that brings a welcome sense of drama, doing justice to the vivid role play practiced by the documentary’s stars.

The movie is a joint production between Concordia Studio (Davis Guggenheim’s production company) and Muck Media, and released by Tribeca Films. Kicking off Tribeca’s summer slate, the studio is focusing on bold storytelling from emerging talent, accompanying We Can Be Heroes with a wide range of genres and perspectives.

Co-director Carina Mia Wong has an extensive background in television news production, beginning with Vice in 2016. Alex Simmons began with music videos in 2008, soon graduating to producing and directing television documentaries. He made his feature directorial debut with Buddymoon in 2016, and recently worked with Wong on the television series Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller.

We Can Be Heroes hits streaming services including Kanopy, Kinema, Fandango At Home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday, July 29th.