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Hero Mode (2021)

Name: Hero Mode
Genre: Comedy, Family
Released: 2021-06-04
Duration: 89 min
Rating: 5.7
Cast: Chris Carpenter, Indiana Massara, Mira Sorvino, Sean Astin, Mary Lynn Rajskub

Hero Mode (2021), directed by A.J. Tesler, starring Chris Carpenter and Indiana Massara.

14 06/04/2021 BR Comedy and Family 1h 29m

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Quiz about this movie

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Synopsis

A teenage coding genius has just 30 days to create the world's greatest video game or his family loses everything. No pressure.

Jonathan HallCinematography
A.J. TeslerDirector, Producer
Dan FlesherEditing
E.J. KavounasProducer

About the film

Hero Mode, also known as Mayfield's Game in Australia and the United Kingdom, is a 2021 American independent comedy film directed by A.J. Tesler (in his directorial debut) and written by Jeff Carpenter. Produced by Marcy Carpenter, E.J. Kavounas, and Tesler, the film was released in American theaters on June 4, 2021, distributed by Blue Fox Entertainment, followed by video on demand on June 11, 2021. It received mixed reviews from critics.

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Plot

Financially struggling indie video game business owner Kate asks her son Troy (Chris Carpenter) to develop a video game in time for an upcoming gaming convention in order to save the company. Troy is enthusiastic for the job. But the company's disgruntled coders are not, while Rick, the CEO of a rival company, looks to buy out the studio in order to gut it and fire everyone.

Cast

Main

Chris Carpenter as Troy Mayfield

Mira Sorvino as Kate Mayfield

Sean Astin as Jimmy Tisdale

Indiana Massara as Paige

Philip Solomon as Nick

Nelson Franklin as Rick

Mary Lynn Rajskub as Larua

Kimia Behpoornia as Marie

Bobby Lee as VP Goodson

Creed Bratton as James

Jim O'Heir as James

Monte Markham as Lyndon

Bret Harrison as George

Al Madrigal as Larry

Erik Griffin as Mr. Diehl

Cameo

Sonja Read (OMGitsfirefoxx) as Announcer

Wood Hawker (BeatEmUps) as himself

Matthew Patrick (MatPat) as himself

Scott Wozniak (Scott the Woz) as himself

Production

While in production the film went under the title of Mayfield's Game. Filming took place in Los Angeles.

Release

Before its release the film generated criticism for its perceived unrealistic portrayal of video game development. The film was released in American theaters on June 4, 2021, distributed by Blue Fox Entertainment. It was followed by video on demand releases on June 11, 2021. It opened with $11,843, for a total domestic gross of $21,178.

Critical reception

Writing in Variety, critic Nick Schager described the film as a "lively saga about a young coding wizard who’s charged with saving his family’s gaming business [that] doesn’t break novel ground in any respect," but that "its good humor, spry pacing and likable performances should appeal to its pre-high-school target audience." Critic Richard Whittaker wrote in The Austin Chronicle that the film is "a sweet, vaguely moralizing, teen-and-tween-friendly light drama," and that it "is charming if undemanding, and feels at least a little authentic to its milieu." Film critic Roger Moore wrote that the film "isn’t interesting enough to stand on its own, despite manic efforts by Astin and an amusing line here and there."

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 46% based on reviews from 13 critics. Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

Hero Mode at IMDb

Official website

Text from Hero Mode on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_Mode

Trivia

It premiered on June 4, 2021, a Friday.
It runs 1h29 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on HBO Max.
This film's quiz has 12 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.