SPOILER ALERT: This column contains potential spoilers about "The Electric State."
What’s better than your typical robotic revolution? A robotic revolution that can make you laugh. And that’s exactly what Netflix provided with its latest film “The Electric State.” Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and released March 14, 2025, Netflix’s film is fun for the whole family.
Loosely based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Simon Stålenhag, “The Electric State” is set in a dystopian world ravaged by a war between robots and humans. The movie follows a teenage girl named Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown) and her robot companion, Cosmo (Alan Tudyk). Together the two trek across the United States in search of Michelle’s little brother, Christopher (Woody Norman), whom she previously believed to be dead.
Referred to as the “AI war” in the film, the battle between the two groups started when the world’s robot population gained sentience and decided to break away from the jobs they were forced into and live their own lives. But after losing the war and signing a peace treaty, the robots were banished from society and forced to live in an area called the Exclusion Zone. Since then, humans have grown reliant on a piece of technology called the Neurocaster, created by the fictional company Sentre. According to the film, the Neurocaster “allows your mind to be in two places at once” letting one part of your brain escape into a virtual oasis and the other to do work through the use of a robotic droid while you relax.
The existence of these Neurocasters, and the implications they have on society, felt very familiar to me the moment they were introduced on screen. If you’ve read the 2011 book “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline or seen its film adaptation by the same name that was released in March 2018, then you are well aware of the potential dangers of relying on virtual reality as a form of escape. Though “The Electric State” doesn’t have the exact same plot as Cline’s story, the similarities between the two lead to a somewhat interesting but ultimately predictable commentary on society’s reliance on technology.
What wasn’t as predictable in this movie was just how weird Chris Pratt’s character was going to be. Pratt plays Keats, a soldier turned illegal goods seller who, with the help of his robotic best friend Herman (Anthony Mackie), guides Michelle and Cosmo through the Excursion Zone. Before watching this film, I thought Pratt’s character was going to be this heroic paternal-type character for Michelle, who helps lead the robot revolution.
While Keats is a hero in the movie, albeit reluctantly, I was surprised to see that during at least the first part of the film he comes off as kind of a loser. He lives separated from society with really only a robot, who he bickers with constantly, as company. There is a certain cowardice he displays during most of the action scenes that made me feel sorry for him more than anything else. And in a touching turned extremely uncomfortable moment at the end of the film, he declares his love for his robotic best friend. It just felt like Pratt was there for the comedic relief but was accidentally given the bigger role of heroic sidekick, creating a character that’s funny but one dimensional.
Thankfully, a movie is more than just one character and this film includes many people and robots that help make the film a lot more interesting. This is primarily seen in the relationship between Michelle and Cosmo, who is quickly revealed to be her little brother’s consciousness in a robotic body. The two have some very heartfelt moments throughout the film as they try to reunite Christopher’s consciousness with his physical body that is trapped in Sentre headquarters in Seattle. The strong bond between the brother and sister is the type of heartwarming relationship that I think anyone with a sibling can relate to. And, if I am being completely honest, the two did have several sweet moments throughout the film that made me tear up.
One of the biggest achievements, and occasionally downsides, of “The Electric State” was when it came to the CGI of the robots. I feel like there are a lot of ways to create poorly done CGI characters and with a film so heavily reliant on the robots it would have been really disappointing to see any of them done badly. But “The Electric State” ended up having a lot of visual appeal to it, and the wide shots that show the dystopian landscape of the Exclusion Zone were some of the most interesting shots in the film.
However, on the flip side of this idea, sometimes the CGI felt a bit too real. Primarily in the cases of the zombie-like robots called Scavengers and the robotic version of Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson), the leader of the robot movement, that haunts me in my sleep. The Scavengers were expected to be creepy since they are essentially supposed to be a bunch of torn up robots mashed together. But Mr. Peanut with his hollow and all too real eyes was genuinely difficult for me to look at. I know the source material for Mr. Peanut isn’t great for making a robotic leader and war hero, but it felt like they overcorrected his look in a really weird way.
Despite Mr. Peanut’s presence, I still enjoyed my time watching “The Electric State.” It wasn’t life changing in any way, and at times it felt like it was trying to be deeper than it could handle with all its commentary on modern technology, but it was a fun watch, and I think that’s what’s important. If you are looking for something simple but funny, I would definitely recommend “The Electric State.”
