OG Kicks Off its Origins Documentary Series with a Deep Dive into Ari

Matthew “Ari” Walker’s name was chanted on cooldown by the home crowd at ESL One Birmingham last month, and OG have made sure to strike while the iron is hot, releasing a dedicated documentary about the British star today. Entitled “Ari: The Moment that Changed Everything,” the mini documentary forms part of a series of Origins documentaries being released by OG.

OG and emotionally rousing documentaries go together like peas in a pod. The team has starred in a pair of True Sights, as well as some incredible documentaries in partnership with Red Bull.

Now this new series focuses on its current roster. Ari was the first member of the stack to get the documentary treatment, and while this edition was comparatively short, it was a surprisingly in-depth look at the player.

OG Origins Ari Documentary Review

Credit: OG

OG’s latest documentary gives us a short but sweet insight into one of its current stars. From his gamer origins, to a dramatic moment that changed everything, the documentary covers his switch from Heroes of the Storm, but also adds some details that I don’t think any interviewer has managed to glean from Ari himself before.

The documentary peaks with the support from Ari’s grandparents, particularly super-fan Grandma Sally, before ending on a bit of hype around OG as a whole. There’s insights from Ceb and N0tail, and everything you’d expect from an OG documentary, but really shrunk down.

Of course from a technical aspect it’s also a very nicely produced documentary. Some lovely B-roll of ESL One Birmingham, Exeter, and what looks like a beach in Torbay. But the piece also doesn’t venture into anything too technical – no big CGI or Source Filmmaker pieces in this one.

A Surprisingly Intimate Look at a Pro Player

What was remarkable about this short insight was that it’s a very personal look at a pro player that delves into family matters and some not so pleasant topics. It’s handled with tact, but the eponymous “Moment that Changed Everything” is actually quite shocking when Ari talks about it. A welcome change from the sometimes droll ‘overcoming the odds’ narratives we usually get in esports documentaries.

The sole critique would be that perhaps the length was a little disappointing. While obviously, if OG plans to produce four more of these documentaries it has to budget itself, the 17 minutes run time left me wanting more. The short runtime also somewhat hurt the pacing, but perhaps that might be due to some cuts. 

A fantastic start to a documentary series, and we eagerly look forward to OG’s next offering.