Tetris
Cert: 15 | ★★★★✩

Tetris, a film about the rise of the addictive Eighties Soviet-produced computer games, will be streaming soon on Apple TV+. In it, British actor Taron Egerton — famous for portraying pop legend Elton John in the brilliant biopic Rocketman — stars as businessman Henk Rogers, the man credited for bringing the game to the Western masses.

The film follows the intricate machinations between several business players as they attempt to secure the rights to the game for Europe and America. One such individual is none other than the late controversial Mirror Group boss Robert Maxwell — played by The Thick Of It star Roger Allam — who also seeks to acquire the game at any cost.

Things start to get out of hand when, despite being advised not to, Henk travels to the USSR on a tourist visa with the mission to negotiate a deal with Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov (played rather brilliantly by Russian-born actor Nikita Efremov).

Tetris Photo 0102

Egerton in Tetris (Apple)

Henk finds himself in a game of cat and mouse with KGB agents and a number of rivals all wanting the game for themselves.

Writer Noah Pink and acclaimed Scottish director Jon S. Baird deliver a film that is more than proud to wear its Eighties nostalgia on its sleeve. With nods to the early days of computer technology and just enough Cold War intrigue, Tetris succeeds in making even the most convicted luddites among us care about its subject.

While some of the performances, including Allam’s outlandish depiction of Maxwell, feel a little cartoonish; the film is nonetheless saved by two impeccably measured turns courtesy of Egerton and Efremov.

Despite its undeniably niche topic, Tetris felt like a great introduction to early gaming, but I am certain that this would’ve worked better as a limited series rather than a feature.