PG-13 | 2h 5m | Sci-Fi, Comedy | 2025
It takes place in a post-apocalyptic alternate version of the 1990s, where a robot war rendered America a war-torn nation. Like so many movies today, it speaks to the dangers of technology and the need for a return to human interaction, understanding, and caring.
Critics absolutely hate this film, which currently stands at 15 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s probably a “How dare the Russo’s leave the MCU and think they could be good at anything else??” kind of thing. I’m here to tell you that, as much as I’ve objected to a lot of recent Netflix fare, this is a sweet, fun, funny, little family film.
Michelle
A tragedy kills Michelle’s (Millie Bobby Brown) family, similar to Brown’s character in “Stranger Things.” Years later, America has been usurped by a tech mogul named Ethan Skate (Stanley Tucci). He controls all technology. Plus, he’s managed to saddle humanity with virtual reality neurocaster helmet gizmos, after all their previous robot gadgets were banished. Everyone sits around in a stupor with big duck-like helmets on their heads. And we thought cell phones were bad news.One day, an extremely cute little robot named Cosmo (voiced by Alan Tudyk) appears at her home, who seems to know her. Could it be? Yup—it’s her genius brother Christopher’s soul (Woody Norman), somehow uploaded into a machine! He leads her on a quest to find him, and uncover the truth behind his supposed death.
Mini “Parks and Recreation” Reunion
The robot cast is voice-acted by lots of actors you know. A small, football helmet-shaped bot with legs, named Blitz, that runs around tackling people, is hilariously voiced by Gronk himself (former Patriot’s tight end Rob Gronkowski). Other retro gadget robots include a baseball pitching machine, and a pink salon chair robot with a voice like Olive Oyl and extremities like Edward Scissorhands. She hilariously swoons and pines for a chance to trim Keats’ unruly locks. There’s even a tiny “Parks and Recreation” reunion with Jenny Slate joining former cast member Chris Pratt in the shenanigans.
The plot is simple, straightforward, and quite a bit of fun. It’s similar to the way adult critics criticized “The Goonies” in the 1980s, thinking it was foolish and silly, when it was really an action-comedy intended for kids. “The Electric State” is the same deal.
Watching the always amusing Pratt and the hugely charismatic young action star Millie Bobby Brown hanging around with cute, 1940s and 1950s stylized robots in the apocalypse, is good-time escapism.
The only misgivings I have is the message that human souls can interact with mechanical and electronic gizmos. The danger of real-life human-machine tampering is ramping up as never before. It’s been noted that people are already basically androids. Since our cell phones rarely leave our hands now, and we have instantaneous access to all manner of information—the next step is chip implantation. It’s a clear and present danger.
But, since we’ve heard all that before, viewers could also choose to chalk the underlying presumptions of “The Electric State” up to magical realism a la the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow, and just not worry about the deeper implications for now.
