It was 1989. I was 12 years old. My mother left my dad and filed for a divorce. I cried a lot. She ask me what I wanted for Christmas. I told her a the New Nintendo Gameboy. She told me she couldn’t afford it. She secretly worked two jobs so she could surprise me with a Gameboy. It was the first Christmas without my dad. But I can’t remember ever being so happy. I lost countless hours playing Tetris. I completely forgot about divorce and all the mess that comes with it. This movie made that moment even more special. Long Live Nintendo.

I was expecting this movie to be good, but holly molly, not THIS GOOD! The movie is a well deserved tribute to all fans of the franchise.

If you think this is not for you because you don't play video games or never got into Tetris, just give this movie a chance. It is an exceptional piece of storytelling with very little cruft. It is witty, it is funny, and it just a wonderful ride from beginning to end. It has a lot of worn-out tropes, but it never dwells on any of them long enough to complain about them. And the soundtrack must've broken the bank. Not just a who's who list of 1980s hits, but covers in Russian and in Japanese rarely heard outside of their respective countries. And to top it all off, a custom remix of Opportunities by The Pet Shop Boys intermixed with the Tetris theme. This might end up being my favorite soundtrack of 2023. [spoiler]I know this movie heavily embellishes a lot of fact for the sake of drama. But if there is any truth to the claim that Howard Lincoln not only went to Soviet Russia just to secure the rights to Tetris but also escaped by the skin of his teeth, then my already high amount of respect for the man just went through the roof.[/spoiler]

I wish these movies were more transparent about just how much of the story is completely fictional

This movie was more about doing anti-communism propaganda rather than the story of the game. Its funny to watch how they are so committed to make URSS look like bad guys, while americans, japanese and british keept pulling a fast on each other to get the distribution rights for the highest bid - without any effort. Pure capitalism. And we live thinking that’s alright and acceptable.