Netflix shares first images of new epic sci-fi movie The Electric State from the Russo brothers, and nobody's sure what to make of it

Netflix fans have got plenty to say about the streamer's next expensively assembled sci-fi flick

News By Tom Power published 2 October 2024

Netflix has finally unveiled a bunch of first-look images of its next big-budget sci-fi movie The Electric State – and, based on initial online reactions, nobody's quite sure what to make of it.

The official screenshots (see below) offer a first glimpse at Joe and the next expensively-assembled Netflix sci-fi buddy comedy film from Joe and Anthony Russo, aka the Russo brothers. The directing duo, who are best known for their work on numerous Marvel movies, have assembled a starry cast for The Electric State, with Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown and Guardians of the Galaxy's Chris Pratt installed as co-leads.

The forthcoming flick, which will be one of 2025's new Netflix movies, is based on Simon Stålenhag's dystopian sci-fi graphic novel of the same name. Set in an alternate reality in 1997, the multitalented Swedish artist's book follows a teenage girl and her robot companion as they traverse the southwest US following a technology-based catastrophe.

What is The Electric State's plot about? And who else is part of the cast?

As The Electric State movie adaptation's logline suggests, Netflix has slightly altered the source material's story to tell a more elaborate tale that puts a greater emphasis on hot topics including artificial intelligence, plus universal themes about what it means to be human. Here's a comprehensive plot brief, courtesy of a Netflix press release for anyone who wants more details:

"Set in an alternate, retro-futuristic version of the 1990s, Brown stars as Michelle, an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where sentient robots resembling cartoons and mascots, who once served peacefully among humans, now live in exile following a failed uprising. 

"Everything Michelle thinks she knows about the world is upended one night when she’s visited by Cosmo, a sweet, mysterious robot who appears to be controlled by Christopher – Michelle’s genius younger brother whom she thought was dead. Determined to find the beloved sibling she thought she had lost, Michelle sets out across the American southwest with Cosmo, and soon finds herself reluctantly joining forces with Keats (Pratt), a low-rent smuggler, and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie). 

"As they venture into the Exclusion Zone, a walled-off corner in the desert where robots now exist on their own, Keats and Michelle find a strange, colorful group of new animatronic allies – and begin to learn that the forces behind Christopher’s disappearance are more sinister than they ever expected."

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