- Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt lead the cast
- Early reviews indicate it’s a massive flop
- “Just a great big multi-color wedge of digital content”
The first wave of reviews for the new Russo brothers movie, The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt are indicating massive disappointment. The big budget, blockbuster movie, hitting Netflix on 14 March sounds exciting on paper – Eleven from Stranger Things in a post-apocalyptic world on an adventure across the U.S. with robot companions – but in reality, it’s falling flat.
Read more: The Electric State: Cast and Characters Explained
Following the release of Avengers: Endgame in 2019, the co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo left the MCU to focus on their own production company, AGBO. Unfortunately, crime thriller Cherry (2021) and action thriller The Gray Man (2022), which starred Ryan Gosling, both received largely negative reviews. With a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%, The Electric State looks like it’s going to continue the unwanted losing streak for the brothers.
What are critics saying about The Electric State?
Despite a reported $320 million production budget, a star-studded cast, and Simon Stålenhag’s stunning illustrated novel as its basis, the film has failed to impress critics.
Read more: Brit actor ‘Mortified’ over Millie Bobby Brown post
It’s an all-too-familiar formula for Netflix original movies. The streaming service has earned a reputation for churning out soulless, paint-by-numbers films that do little to engage audiences – just look at Red Notice (2021).
The Electric State is taking a mauling from critics for seemingly falling into the same category. It’s being labelled as just another sci-fi flick stuffed with CGI and star power.
Variety describes it as “a bland Millie Bobby Brown vehicle” and argues that “the filmmakers have diluted the source material, showing a clear lack of interest in making their creation just as haunting, searing and satisfying as the original product.”
The Guardian, meanwhile, says “There’s no soul, no originality, just a great big multi-color wedge of digital content.”
Jonathan Itkonen at Toisto.net concluded “In its original form, The Electric State is a work of exquisite and smart alternative history. As a film, it’s a waste of everyone’s time and energy.”
Indiewire.com writer, David Ehrlich is “praying that this lifeless ($320 million!?) Netflix mockbuster is the worst thing I’ll see this year”.
Has there been anything positive said about the film?
Amongst the mound of scathing reviews, there have been some favourable comments.
Empire gave the Russo brothers movie a three-star rating, adding “The Electric State loses some of the quiet profundity of the original text, but as a breezily watchable retrofuturistic jolly, it has just enough juice.”
Chris Bumbray, writing for JoBlo praises the CGI and gives Alan Silvestri a mention for the film’s score, saying “The robot designs are impressive, as is the impeccable CGI. Technically, one can’t find much fault with the movie, with it well photographed by Stephen F. Windon while Alan Silvestri contributes a score reminiscent of some of his eighties and nineties classics.”
Despite all the reviews, it’s highly likely we’ll see The Electric State featured in Netflix’s top 10 weekly lists. The draw of Millie Bobby Brown in a big-budget sci-fi blockbuster with cute looking robots will be enough for people to hit play. Whether or not audiences will enjoy it, remains to be seen.
The Electric State hits Netflix on 14 March, 2025.
