Movie · 2025 · Action, Adventure, Science Fiction · 2h 5m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.3/10 (283.5K ratings)
Rage with the machines.
Overview
An orphaned teen hits the road with a mysterious robot to find her long-lost brother, teaming up with a smuggler and his wisecracking sidekick.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.3/10
IMDb: 5.9/10
Letterboxd: 2.15/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 14%
Metacritic: 30
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Production
AGBO, Skybound Entertainment
Cast
Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Norman, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, Colman Domingo, Alan Tudyk, Ann Russo, Greg Cromer, Vince Pisani, Camrus Johnson, Juan Uribe Brandi, Kurt Loder
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
An overstuffed, tonally confused sci-fi adventure that squanders its premise, visual world, and cast on generic plotting and heavy-handed nostalgia. The consensus points to a costly but emotionally flat film that feels more assembled than imagined.
Best for
Viewers who want a glossy, big-budget streaming spectacle with lots of CGI and action
Fans of post-apocalyptic road movies who are less concerned with originality
Curious viewers interested in seeing a high-profile misfire for themselves
Skip if
You want inventive worldbuilding or a distinctive visual identity
You’re looking for emotional warmth, wit, or strong character writing
You’re sensitive to obvious productized nostalgia and needle-drop overload
Overview
The Electric State has the bones of a compelling YA sci-fi road movie: a lonely teen, a protective robot companion, and a ruined America full of mechanical relics. But the finished film feels flattened by committee thinking, with every emotional beat explained instead of earned and every image drained of mystery. What should feel eerie and poignant instead plays as generic and overdesigned.
Worth noting
The biggest problem is tone. The source material suggests a melancholy, uncanny atmosphere, but the movie keeps reaching for quips, sentiment, and crowd-pleasing momentum that never quite connect. The result is a film that looks expensive but feels strangely weightless, as if it is constantly imitating better movies without committing to any one of them.
Bottom line
There are isolated pleasures in the cast and in the basic premise, but they are buried under exposition, noisy action, and a relentless sense of familiarity. For viewers who want a vivid, emotionally resonant sci-fi adventure, there are far stronger options elsewhere. This is more a cautionary example of scale without soul than a recommendation.
Top Letterboxd reviews
zakfilm (1★) · 6052 likes
The Russo brothers and Netflix are on a mission to use as much money possible to kill cinema.
You could make 53 Anoras and 32 The Brutalists with that 320 million dollar budget. Turns out Russos used AI too. A crime against all indie lifers
Kit Lazer (0.5★) · 5138 likes
It’s kinda like if Ready Player One and E.T. had a baby with Chappie but that baby was Monstro Elizasue.
Preet (0.5★) · 3078 likes
can we talk about the political and electric state of the world right now?
Sydney🚀 (0.5★) · 2884 likes
An excruciating affair, never have i seen such a gross amount of money so wasted or needle drops so abused. Creatively bankrupt and emotionally void from start to finish, Ke Huy Quan innocent, Joseph and Anthony russo you will begin to cough in seven days
Joe A (0.5★) · 2366 likes
Bad movies exist. They have existed and will continue to always exist. The Electric State is a bad movie directed by two people who would ironically be the villain of their own movie. It’s images lack any semblance of life and in lieu of any meaningful storytelling, it opts for exposition dumps set to Now That’s What I Call Music: Vol 7 needle drops. Why explore a theme when we can have Milly Bobby Brown lethargically tell you them to the… more Bad movies exist. They have existed and will continue to always exist. The Electric State is a bad movie directed by two people who would ironically be the villain of their own movie. It’s images lack any semblance of life and in lieu of any meaningful storytelling, it opts for exposition dumps set to Now That’s What I Call Music: Vol 7 needle drops. Why explore a theme when we can have Milly Bobby Brown lethargically tell you them to the… more
1995 · Action, Animation, Science Fiction · 1h 23m · NR · Curator 8.7/10 (568.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
For viewers drawn to cybernetic identity questions and a more contemplative sci-fi mood.