The Electric State Review
Director: Russo Brothers
Date Created: 2025-03-14 16:39
1.5
The Electric State Review: Directed by Russo Brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, this Netflix film is an adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 graphic novel. The film stars Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Jenny Slate, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox and others. The movie is 2 hours and 8 minutes long and takes us to a futuristic world where war between robots and humans has transformed everything. The movie’s story revolves around an orphan girl named Michelle, who partners with a robot called Cosmo to find her long-lost brother.
The Electric State Review
Netflix’s The Electric State really had me thinking it was going to be a blast in a cool dystopian future. But what I got was a movie that trudges along with too much dialogue and very little emotional investment. The idea of a world where robots and human beings used to fight and now human existence is through virtual reality is cool. But the movie does very little with it.
Michelle’s search for her brother ought to be emotional and moving but I just didn’t care. The characters lack chemistry and their conversations are so dull that it is hard to be concerned about what’s happening. Instead of showing us this thrilling adventure, the movie keeps stopping to tell us all. It’s like the script doesn’t trust us to catch it without having absolutely everything spelled out for us, so just endless information dumping. And truthfully? Made the whole thing exhausting to watch.
Talking about the visuals. This movie reportedly cost $320 million to make. That’s an insane amount of money. And yet, there isn’t a single scene that made me think, “Wow, this looks amazing.” Everything feels weirdly lifeless, like a bunch of CGI thrown together without any real creativity. I’ve seen lower-budget sci-fi films that looked way better than this.
I kept waiting for at least one visually stunning moment—something that would make me feel the scale of this world. But it never came. Instead, the world looks dull, and the special effects aren’t quite as jaw-dropping as they have to be. If a movie is going to spend this kind of money, I want something visually iconic. Instead, this was a humongous waste of resources.
This was where I was most annoyed. Look at this cast—Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, Giancarlo Esposito, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox… these are all actors who have given great performances in other movies. And yet, in The Electric State, everyone is wasted.
Millie Bobby Brown, who was great in Stranger Things, doesn’t bring much depth to Michelle. I didn’t receive the emotional reaction I was supposed to receive from her. Chris Pratt, who can be totally charming in the right role, is utterly uninspired here. The rest of the cast? Honestly, I forgot most of them even being in the movie. It’s really impressive how a film with so many talented individuals could make all of them so forgettable.
And can we talk about how perfect and smooth Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt look for the whole length? They are out on this dangerous mission, yet nothing ruffles their hair and makeup. It just made everything feel so much more fake.
The Electric State’s pacing is terrible. It drags so badly that I kept checking how much time was left. The action scenes don’t quite have any meaningful impact, and the tear-jerking moments feel contrived. It’s almost as if the movie desires to be poignant and deep but lacks the ability to be. What happens instead is that it just throws us with overlong monologues about humanity and how they connect, but they fall short because they’re supposed to. If this is what the Russo Brothers are bringing to their future movies, I’m really worried about their next Avengers film.
Summing Up
The Electric State movie is a complete mess—lackluster writing, terrible acting, and excess that doesn’t deserve the ginormous budget. It’s not the worst movie ever, by any means, but one of the biggest letdowns of the year, for sure. Would I recommend you see it? Honestly? No. But god, if you’re still in the mood for it, just roll with bad expectations—badly low expectations.
The Electric State 2025 is now streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Adolescence Review: Harrowing and Unsettling Thriller That Will Give You Goosebumps
