{"id":51665,"date":"2026-05-12T04:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=51665"},"modified":"2026-05-12T04:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T20:39:34","slug":"what-year-does-mixtape-take-place-a-polygon-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=51665","title":{"rendered":"What year does Mixtape take place? A Polygon investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s no surprise that Mixtape <\/em>is a huge hit with a very specific audience. Beethoven & Dinosaur\u2019s critically acclaimed coming-of-age adventure is a nostalgic treat for anyone who grew up in a small American town, listening to Joy Division and pining for an escape from their suburban prison. I enjoyed it well enough as a light crowd-pleaser, but one mystery has been bugging me ever since I rolled credits: When the hell does this thing actually take place?<\/p>\n
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That should be a straightforward question with a clear answer, but it isn\u2019t. Mixtape <\/em>never outright says what year it\u2019s set in. Divorced from any major current events of the time, it only offers context clues that roughly locate you somewhere in the \u201890s. Even then, the tone of the game doesn\u2019t always line up with the likely setting. From the \u201880s comedy inspiration to some anachronistic writing, it\u2019s hard to read Mixtape <\/em>as a straight period piece. That era-blending confusion lays one of Mixtape<\/em>\u2019s biggest issues bare: The teenage experience it describes isn\u2019t as universal as Beethoven & Dinosaur makes it out to be.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re trying to find a firm year to place Mixtape <\/em>in, 1995 is the most logical conclusion you could draw. The majority of the music used in the game predates that year. For instance, Portishead\u2019s Dummy<\/em>, which plays a pivotal role in an emotional turning point, landed in 1994. The most recent reference we get is a nod to Montell Jordan\u2019s \u201cThis Is How We Do It,\u201d which was released in 1995. That year lines up with some story details, the focus on skater culture, and a sequence set in a VHS rental store.<\/p>\n
While all that checks out logically, I couldn\u2019t blame anyone for thinking it\u2019s not quite<\/em> right. For one, Mixtape <\/em>seems to be heavily inspired by the works of director John Hughes, best known for foundational \u201880s comedies like The Breakfast Club<\/em> and Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em>, two films that match up with Mixtape<\/em>\u2019s tone. (During one scene, the story\u2019s teen trio debate their favorite films of the \u201880s.) That gives everything a specific texture that\u2019s distant from the grunge rock angst and skate counterculture of the mid-\u201990s.<\/p>\n
More confusing is the fact that the characters don\u2019t really talk like they\u2019re from either the \u201880s or \u201890s. During a rock-skipping sequence, protagonist Stacey Rockford uses the word \u201ccinema\u201d in the slangy context that today\u2019s youths use it to describe a moment that feels like a movie. In a flashback scene where Stacey and her friend Van Slater pose in a photobooth, Slater says, \u201cCan the camera handle the kind of sauce I’m putting out here?\u201d There is no universe in which kids were saying \u201csauce\u201d in 1995. It\u2019s about two decades too early.<\/p>\n
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\n\n <\/picture>Image: Beethoven & Dinosaur\/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
There are two ways you can read those weird decisions. On one hand, you can chalk it up to a messy script that could have used a second pass. The more generous read, though, is that Beethoven & Dinosaur is reaching for something universal. It doesn\u2019t want Mixtape <\/em>to be a period piece that\u2019s only relatable to those who grew up in the mid-\u201990s \u2014 a goal that\u2019s only partially successful if that\u2019s the intent. I was more of a mid-2000s indie kid and I still recognize the familiar small-town angst Rockford is reckoning with, even if Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse were on my own mixes. If you\u2019re the kind of person who sees music as a soundtrack to your life, you\u2019ll likely find something to connect with in Mixtape<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Where Beethoven & Dinosaur goes wrong, though, is in treating its vision of the mid-\u201990s suburbia as a broadly relatable teenage experience. It isn\u2019t. Stacey and her crew represent a very specific kind of \u201890s high schooler: the cool kids who just want to spend their days skating and listening to music, free from the long arm of the law. The archetype Mixtape <\/em>explores is the product of compounding historical moments that gave rise to a breed of angsty teens. They were part of a counterculture that was doing everything in its power to push back against rampant \u201880s commercialism and Reagan-era faux-optimism. That lined up with the rise of the \u201890s grunge scene, and bands like Nirvana that made it cool to be apathetic slackers.<\/p>\n
![\"Teens](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mixtape-grocery-cart-chase.png?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2\")
\n <\/picture>Image: Beethoven & Dinosaur\/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mixtape-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=220&h=124&dpr=2\"\/)
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