Rotate. Fit. Survive. The premise of the mega-hit video game Tetris is a simple one that is known and enjoyed worldwide nearly 40 years after its creation. Lesser known than the iconic four-block game pieces and its earworm of a theme song, is the struggle for rights to distribute the game that nearly spelled its demise. Tetris (2023) is an Apple TV+ original film that is as much a Cold War thriller as an ode to a beloved video game.

The scene is the Cold War-era Soviet Union in 1985. Alexey Pajitnov designs the original Tetris game in his spare time as a computer engineer. Sharing it initially with friends and colleagues, Tetris gains the kind of organic popularity most creators can only dream of, as it spreads across the Soviet Union and beyond.

Cut to the 1988 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where video game designer and entrepreneur Henk Rogers discovers Tetris. Finding himself hooked after demoing the game for only a few minutes, Henk realized the potential and sought the rights for distribution.

In most stories, this is where the phrase “and the rest is history” would suffice. But Apple TV+ developed the Tetris (2023) film because the true story behind negotiating and contracting rights to a video game was deeply complicated by the impending fall of the Soviet Union, which serves as the historical background of the game’s origin.

Any story about business negotiations, intellectual property rights, and distribution rights has a large initial challenge to overcome: establishing and maintaining interest in its premise.

Sure, a business-minded person would appreciate the nuances of Cold War-era contract negotiations. And a history buff may appreciate the complexities of traveling behind The Iron Curtain to purchase rights for something owned by a Communist regime.

But it is Noah Pink’s writing and Jon S. Baird’s direction that transform what is ostensibly a business transaction into a widely appealing thriller outlining attempts to parlay with state-run business by day and spar with state-run might by night.

After all, the stakes were far higher than anyone would ever think. Behind the complex contract negotiation involving video game distribution rights was nothing less than the weight of Soviet Russia vs. the USA, Communism vs. Capitalism, and The Iron Curtain vs. The Almighty Dollar.

Visually, the Tetris film’s cinematography, editing, and animation combine brilliantly to tell the story of the game’s origins within the context of both geo-political considerations and kitchen-table humanity. While brute-force KGB violence is a clear indicator of personal stakes, it is the human moments behind the characters that establish notes of empathy to connect the viewer to the character. We care about Henk because you see the effect of these business dealings on his family. We care about Alexey because it is his wife and children whose home is destroyed due to his decision to befriend an American. These connections make each threat all the more menacing, and each tragedy all the more stirring.

A special note about the animation in the Tetris film is in order, as the animation team does an exceptional job creating 8-bit video game transitions and interstitials that serve a variety of key purposes. In addition to bringing video game elements onto the screen to weave into the storylines of the characters, the effects add motion to moments of static action. The animated sequences also highlight the introduction of characters and clarify their roles in memorable ways, which is important for a story involving so many players.

History and Hollywood have long been at odds in terms of reality versus entertainment. But the film and the game have this much in common: what begins as a calm entry into an intriguing premise builds promise over time, draws the viewer (player?) further in, and pays off with a frenetic but satisfying finale.

Tetris is now streaming on Apple TV+

Did you know?

●     The shapes in the video game are called “tetrominoes.”

●     “Type A,” the seminal video game theme song from Tetris is based on a Russian folk song called Korobeiniki (meaning “peddler”) and was originally a poem before being remade by Hirokazu Tanaka for Nintendo’s Game Boy version of Tetris.

●     Robert Maxwell, Founder of Maxwell Communications, former member of British Parliament, depicted as the string-pulling financier friend of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Tetris movie, is also the father of Ghislaine Maxwell, infamous sidekick of Jeffrey Epstein.