BASED on REAL PEOPLE/Events. “Tetris.” / “The Vanishing.”

“Tetris” (2023, Apple TV+) black comedy thriller, based on true events around the race to license and patent the video game Tetris from Soviet Russia.



       Tetris is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In typical Tetris gameplay, falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile. Once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disappears, granting points and preventing the pile from overflowing. I guess you know that already.

As of December 2024, these versions collectively serve as the second-best-selling video game series with over 520 million sales, mostly on mobile devices.

       The plot follows Henk Rogers (an involved Taron Egerton) of Bullet-Proof Software, who becomes interested in Tetris during an electronics show in Las Vegas. Desperate to obtain handheld console rights for Nintendo, he takes trips between Japan, the United States, and Russia to win legal battles over the game's ownership.

       If you can put up with the stereotypical shaming of Russia, this movie would entertain you, for sure. Cartoonish, yes--but still a thrill. But don't buy the action sequences. As the filmmakers admit, those are for cinematic effects, as in a typical Cold War era fodder. Director Jon S. Baird gave us an enjoyable ride from Noah Pink's otherwise cliché-ridden script. 🎥💻📽


“The Vanishing” (2018, Fandango) British psychological thriller. Based on the 1900 disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse crew, the story is entirely fiction.



       Grim atmosphere that fits with the setting, and a firm cast keep this sad thriller a focused watch. Director Kristoffer Nyholm and writers Celyn Jones and Joe Bone crafted a compelling reading of a true-life unsolved mystery that navigated themes of greed and paranoia. 

       Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, and Connor Swindells deliver an intensely riveting three-way performance. 🎥💻📽


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