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AppleTV+ TETRIS Parents Guide Movie Review

AppleTV+ Tetris is a clever and creative story that is just as enjoyable as the game itself. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.

Tetris Parents Guide

AppleTV+ Tetris is now playing in theaters and will be released on the streaming service tomorrow, March 31, 2023. The film stars Taron Egerton (Henk), Nikita Efremov (Alexey), Toby Jones (Robert Stein), Rick Yune (Larry), Ayane (Akemi), Ben Miles (Howard), and Sofya Lebedeva (Sahsa). Written by Noah Pink and directed by Jon S. Baird, the true-life story is as entertaining as the game. Check out the details in my parents guide movie review.

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AppleTV+ Tetris Movie Quotes

Tetris Parents Guide

In Tetris: Henk Rogers discovers Tetris in 1988, and then risks everything by travelling to the Soviet Union, where he joins forces with inventor Alexey Pajitnov to bring the game to the masses.

Tetris Parents Guide

Tetris Age Rating Parents Guide

Let’s take a look at what parents need to know about the age rating of the movie before letting their younger children watch AppleTV+ Tetris.

LanguageAppleTV+ Tetris contains some strong language, with profanity used throughout. Stronger words include f*ck, sh*t, son of a b*tch, b*st*rd, hell, d*mn, g-d d*mn, and phrases such as “screw you.”

Mature Content: Other than the bad language mentioned above, the other thing to watch for for parents is some of the violence it contains, mostly implied. Characters are threatened by the Russian government and beaten up for not complying. Characters are also shown consuming alcoholic beverages. There are some subtitles in the film, which may turn off some audiences.

Age Rating of AppleTV+ TetrisAppleTV+’s Tetris has an R rating for strong language, and the parents’ advisory recommends it for an adult audience, younger adults, and teens 17 and older. The suggestion of parental guidance or an adult guardian is highly suggested for younger kids (or older kids) under 17 years of age for this R-rated film. The minimum age recommendation is 17 years old; it is not suitable for young children. Young viewers are not recommended to view this film.

Overall Thoughts

Even in 2023, it would be difficult to find someone who hasn’t played, or at least heard of, the game Tetris. Beloved the world over and selling half a billion copies, the fast-moving puzzle game is not only challenging and fun, but also as addictive as a game can get. People even see the blocks falling in their dreams and see shapes in their environments that resemble “tetrominoes”. But few people know the intriguing story of the real-life battle of multiple parties attempting to obtain the publishing and licensing rights to the game.

Tetris 2023 finally brings this story to the big screen, even if the game’s popularity has waned in recent years. Taron Egerton (Kingsmen) stars as Henk Rogers, a video game designer who first saw the game at CES in Las Vegas. He then begins the process of trying to secure the rights to the game. Little did he know at the time that the game’s rights had already been swindled by Robert Stein, played by Toby Jones (Infamous), and passed around to various outlets. Henk was able to secure rights for the Japanese market from one company but was unaware that at least a dozen other companies had sold the game’s rights to various formats around the world. All the while, ELORG, the Russian organization that actually owned the rights due to the game’s creator, Alexey Pajitnov, being their employee, was unaware of any of this. After a meeting with Nintendo, Henk learns about the upcoming and highly secret GameBoy. Henk, wishing to secure handheld rights, travels to Russia seeking to obtain them. Assuming they are being conned by multiple outside companies, communist Russia feels they are being duped, and soon some scary individuals show up to ensure they aren’t being conned.

Although there isn’t any over the top action, and it is the story of securing the rights to a video game, the movie is nonetheless engrossing and will keep your interest whether you are a fan of Tetris or not. Certainly there is action, with some daring chases and great camera shots, but the acting is really the center of attention here. Everyone does a remarkable job in their roles, regardless of how large or small their part is. You can tell they really were trying to make a great movie and not just tell the story, which is crazy to think about how everything went down at the same time. Tetris 2023 also does a wonderful job of capturing the late 1980s era in which this all happened, setting the tone and bringing the nostalgia for all of those who lived through that time period. The two-hour runtime feels just right and doesn’t drag at all. I have no doubt that when this movie is released, it will again spark interest in the game, immediately garner new fans, and push Tetris to the front once again. Similarly, The Super Mario Bros. Movie being released soon could prove that a retro-game renaissance of sorts is about to pop off soon, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Tetris Parents Guide