The Electric State has finally been released to Netflix viewers all over the world, and the conversation has quickly turned to disappointment and negative reactions. This film is directed by the Russo brothers, who have become known for their exciting work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the Captain America movies and Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. However, they’re also known for their recent critical flops, Cherry and The Gray Man. While their public perception has fallen off since the MCU, The Electric State brings the negative reactions to a whole new level.

Starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, The Electric State tells the story of a world taken over by technology. The film follows a fairly standard and basic plot structure that audiences have seen several times in major blockbusters throughout the last decade. On top of that, the marketing and publicity around the film were more about leading audience expectations than the film itself. Even though audiences would have given the movie a chance, too many negative headlines and disappointing reports about the movie led Netflix viewers to feel otherwise. With all that said, does The Electric State deserve the heavy criticism it has been receiving, or are fans blowing things way out of proportion?

The Movie Uses a Modern Stereotypical Formula

Although Electric State’s Story Is Stereotypical, It Manages to Do Some Things Right

The Electric State follows a plot structure that Hollywood has recently adopted as the new typical story for action-adventure movies. Arguably, audiences can say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe began this trend, specifically the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Usually, audiences could see an unlikely hero recruit a band of odd and charismatic, usually quippy, heroes to go up against an evil force with a largely computer-generated army. Although it’s not particularly unique to storytelling, certain key styles come through in these kinds of inspired films, such as a muted color scheme, a lightly comedic-action tone and heavy use of CGI. This plot structure has been used to death over the last few years, having been seen in movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Black Adam and Borderlands. All three of these movies were met with harsh criticisms, especially for the repetitive feeling of its story structure. There are plenty of movies that still use these ideas and manage to create an exciting and wonderful film with them. The Electric State lands somewhere in the middle.

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The movie is set in a world that has been literally and metaphorically taken over by technology. In an alternate timeline, sentient technology and literal robots have risen to fight for their own independence, only to be sectioned off into their own area of the world away from humanity. However, one small robot finds a young orphaned woman, played by Millie Bobby Brown, and she discovers that the robot is her little brother, who she thought was long dead. Together, they meet a rugged traveler and his robot sidekick, played by Chris Pratt and Anthony Mackie respectively, and they go on an adventure to find where their brother’s body is being kept and the secrets of the big tech company that’s practically running the world.

Although the story is tired and derivative from many other films that have been made in recent years, The Electric State manages to find ways to keep it somewhat fresh and lively. There are a lot of redeeming qualities that maintain the film’s lively atmosphere, such as the incredible CGI. Every special effect and computer-generated character or scene in this movie is practically flawless, as it should be given the film’s monumental budget. Those artists shouldn’t have their work relegated to criticisms that don’t have much to do with their specific fields or even the film itself. Simply put, the perception of the quality of the film has suffered due to what has gone on outside the film’s story, which is, unfortunately, understandable.

Why Do Audiences Hate The Electric State?

Reviews for Electric State Have Not Been Kind at All

The Electric State manages to deliver a passable film with some fun characters, great special effects and an interesting concept. However, a majority of the film’s criticism actually comes from outside the film itself. For starters, The Electric State was inspired by a 2018 graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag of the same name. Fans of the comic were disappointed to hear that the film adaptation would only take the visuals and the title, leaving the eerie and depressing atmosphere behind in favor of a more marketable premise. The screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely strayed from the original comic so much, they might as well have created an entirely original film.

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Although the comic was the first thing audiences had an issue with pertaining to the film, The Electric State would later face an even bigger issue when their alleged budget was released to the public. This Netflix film cost the company over 320 million dollars. Viewers were astonished. The only saving grace when that news broke was that The Electric State does look like a film that has its entire budget onscreen. The work and care behind the scenes does translate. With that said, many viewers could not get over the frankly ridiculous price tag. Many cited that it was an incredibly blown-out budget, especially for a movie that would only be released on streaming. Netflix’s business model has been criticized throughout the boom of streaming services, with many confused as to why they would choose to release a massively expensive movie like The Electric State, or many other Netflix originals, onto their streaming platform where it would be washed out by so many other options. Streaming difficulties aside, The Electric State suffered due to their overblown budget, and soon the director’s comments on the state of the industry.

The Russo Brothers have been behind some of the biggest films of all time, such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Their last two directorial efforts recently included Cherry, a 2021 Apple TV+ original starring Tom Holland, and The Gray Man, a Netflix action film starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. Unfortunately, both were met with fairly negative reviews, and both faded into obscurity due to the algorithm that suffocates so many streaming films. Because of their recent reputation, audiences have been hesitant to see what’s next for the directing duo. Their worries were made worse when, during the opening weekend of the film, the duo announced that they had used AI software in order to help create the film. AI in cinema is a very hot topic at the moment, with many feeling like it’s a shortcut or even a cheat to create art that audiences feel an artist should be allowed to make on their own. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to AI, and it can’t be completely summarized as a good or bad thing for the industry. Still, at the moment, many feel like there aren’t proper regulations or conversations over how these AI tools are used in cinema at the moment.

Regardless of where viewers stand on the issue, it is ridiculous that the directors happily use technology in a way that robs the humanity of their art on a film about how society should be careful not to let technology rob their humanity. It’s redundant but ironic, to say the least. These major headlines, plus the fact that Planters Peanuts have been the annoying driving force behind this film’s advertising, have led audiences to make rash assumptions over the quality of The Electric State, and reasonably so.

The Electric State Isn’t That Bad

Although The Electric State Didn’t Meet Expectations, It Doesn’t Deserve the Massive Hate It’s Been Getting

Although the presumptions of The Electric State are valid, many have written off the film before even giving it a chance. It’s definitely not the most groundbreaking film of 2025, and it’s already being left behind in a year full of excellent films, but that doesn’t mean that The Electric State is that bad. The performances are solid, the story is somewhat interesting, and the sets, costumes and makeup are all great. The strongest part of this movie, outside the original shell of the comic’s inspiration, is probably the incredible special effects that this movie is densely layered in.

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Regardless of their massive budget, The Electric State looks like a movie that costs that much. The work of everyone involved is all on screen, whether it contributed to an enjoyable film or not. Yes, the plot is fairly standard, but not so much that it feels extremely derivative or distracting. The Electric State is a movie that doesn’t exceed expectations, but it may not have deserved the major critical backlash it received. However, the use of AI is very ironic and disappointing.

The Electric State

Release Date

March 14, 2025

Runtime

128 Minutes

Director

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Writers

Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely