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The Russo Brothers return with another original blockbuster. But after a string of overbudgeted shlock, will their newest outing fare any better? This is the 1st trailer for The Electric State.
In an alternate version of the 90s, society is reeling after robots attempted an uprising against humans. Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) is a young teenager approached by a robot claiming to know the location of her missing brother.
With the help of local inventor Keats (Chris Pratt), the group sets off on an ambitious journey across an America caught between two foundations of society. The expansive trailer shows multiple large-scale robots (both benevolent and violent), as the misfit heroes battle their way through the dregs of an epic world reduced to rubble.
The Electric State (2025) – source: Netflix
Directors Joe & Anthony Russo feel like anomalies in the modern auteur space. They don’t have a defined visual style, per se. Instead, they’re more known for their large scale. Coming off Marvel’s highest-grossing films, the two have been able to command huge budgets for original ideas, an increasing rarity for directors in 2024.
Sadly, the majority of their newer releases haven’t been critically acclaimed, relying too much on scale and over-production with character falling by the wayside. The Electric State, by this 1st trailer, looks to be more of the same. While the worldbuilding looks visually stunning, akin to the sweeping vistas of a Simon Stalenhag portrait, the one-dimensional dialogue and cliched premise bog the trailer down.
Co-stars Brown and Pratt don’t get much to do besides acting doe-eyed and vulnerable. And the trailer’s pacing feels overly elegiac and self-important, not selling a fast-paced adventure in favor of a more grandiose tone. And frankly, the film’s writing doesn’t feel sophisticated enough to support that.
The Electric State will likely be a modest hit by distributor Netflix’s dubious metrics, but feels unlikely to be much more than the footnote of its incredibly talented creators’ filmography.
Directed by The Russo Brothers, The Electric State will release worldwide on Netflix on March 14, 2025. The movie stars an ensemble cast led by Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt.
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