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The Electric State sinks with abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score despite $320m Netflix gamble

Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt star in the critically loathed Netflix thriller

Annabel Nugent
Monday 10 March 2025 04:46 GMT
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The Electric State (Final Trailer)

The bad news continues to roll in for Millie Bobby Brown’s new £248m film The Electric State.

The sci-fi adventure film, which will be released on Netflix next week, stars the Stranger Things actor opposite Chris Pratt in a loose adaptation of the 2018 novel by Simon Stålenhag.

As of now, The Electric State has achieved a paltry rating of 23 per cent on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 22 critic reviews.

However disappointing this sounds, it is still a marginal improvement, after the film previously debuted with a rating of 10 per cent.

The number will fluctuate in the coming days as more reviews are submitted, but as it stands The Electric State will almost certainly rank among the lowest-rated films by directing duo Joe Russo and Anthony Russo.

The Russo brothers are best known for their work with Marvel, having directed box office juggernauts such as Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War.

The Electric State, however, seems doomed to share the same fate as the siblings’ more forgettable fare such as You, Me and Dupree, which has 20 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Millie Bobby Brown and a big yellow robot in Netflix’s ‘The Electric State’
Millie Bobby Brown and a big yellow robot in Netflix’s ‘The Electric State’ (Netflix)

The response no doubt comes as a huge blow to not only the Russo Brothers but also to Netflix, who reportedly spent an eye-watering $320m (£248m) on the film – a gamble even with the combined star power of Bobby Brown and Pratt.

The dismal score comes amid terrible reviews for the film, with critics branding it “bland” and “incoherent”.

In a one-star review, film critic Clarisse Loughrey writes: “The Electric State is somehow both punishingly obvious and completely incoherent.

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Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown attend the premiere of Netflix's 'The Electric State'
Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown attend the premiere of Netflix's 'The Electric State' (Getty Images for Netflix)

The Electric State contains the most baffling call-to-arms in recent cinema,” she continues. “This is a story, in short, about how all those damn kids should put their phones down and go hug the nearest corporate mascot. That’s not a surprising take to see from Anthony and Joe Russo, the director duo behind the second highest-grossing film of all time, Avengers: Endgame, produced for the empire of Mickey Mouse. Still, it’s an interminable one to have to sit through.”

Stanley Tucci stars as the film’s villain, with Woody Harrelson, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, and Hank Azaria lending their voices to the movie.

The Electric State is out on Netflix on 14 March.

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