About

The Electric State refers to a 2025 film created by Netflix starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown, directed by the Russo Brothers (known for their work on Marvel films). It's an adaptation of the 2018 illustrated novel The Electric State. The plot follows an American orphaned teenage girl named Michelle who travels with her robot companion to search for her missing brother in a reimagined version of the year 1997. The film was critically panned upon its release and sparked viral discourse and memes at its expense.

History

On December 18th, 2020, it was announced by Deadline^[1] that Joe and Anthony Russo were set to direct an adaptation of the graphic novel The Electric State, produced by Universal Pictures. Actress Millie Bobby Brown (known for her role on Stranger Things) was set to star in the film. In June 2022, it was reported that Netflix had acquired the rights to the film.^[2]

On October 17th, 2024, the film's first trailer was released and shared by the X^[3] account @DiscussingFilm, gaining over 4.4 million views and 29,000 likes in five months (shown below).

The film was released on Netflix on March 14th, 2025.^[4]

The first trailer for The Russo Brothers’ ‘THE ELECTRIC STATE’ has been released.Starring Chris Pratt, Millie Bobby Brown, Woody Harrelson, Ke Huy Quan, Anthony Mackie & Giancarlo Esposito Releasing March 14 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/czrUZRz1d3

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 17, 2024

Reception

Predominantly, critics panned The Electric State upon its release. Vulture^[5] critic Bilge Ebiri wrote a piece titled, "Netflix's 'The Electric State Is a $320 Million Piece of Junk," in which he noted, "It's an action fantasy built on silliness. Without a light touch, it becomes actively annoying." New York Times^[6] critic Elisabeth Vincentelli, like Ebiri, blamed the film's writing and storyline. "You can’t blame some of the actors for appearing confused or bored. Brown, in particular, looks like a stunned deer in headlights," she wrote. The film received 15% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes ^[7] while it received a 71% score from viewers.

On March 7th, 2025, Redditor^[13] SanderSo47 shared a megathread of critical reviews to /r/movies, receiving over 2,400 upvotes in two weeks.

Online Reaction

Viral posts about the film started surfacing ahead of its release, like on February 1st, 2025, X^[8] user @dogshit95 quote tweeted a newly released trailer, making a joke about harming themself while watching the film, receiving over 6,100 likes in a month (shown below).

On March 7th, the X^[9] account @DiscussingFilm echoed a report about The Electric State debuting with 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.

X^[10] user @baileylikemovie quote tweeted the post, jokingly predicting that the film would be "the most watched movie in a single weekend in Netflix history," making the company announce The Electric State 2. The post received over 14,000 likes in two weeks (shown below).

On March 14th, 2025, when the film was officially released on Netflix, viral posts continued en masse that mostly made fun of the movie. For instance, on the day, X^[11] user @NeilNevins tweeted, "The Electric State so bad, nobody on Wikipedia wants to be the one to have to fill in the plot," gaining over 3,100 likes in a week (shown below).

On March 15th, TikToker^[15] @kido.aep shared an edit of Michelle from the film, receiving over 197,600 likes in six days (shown below).

On March 17th, 2025, X^[12] user @WongUpdates quote tweeted a video posted by video game developer Hideo Kojima of himself grilling meat, captioning it, "He's doing everything except reviewing The Electric State 😭," receiving over 74,000 likes in four days (shown below).

On March 16th, TikToker^[14] @isuperebba posted his review of the film, gaining over 53,800 likes in five days (shown below).

Search Interest

External References