The Electric State is a 2025 Netflix science-fiction adventure about a young woman crossing an alternate 1990s America to find her younger brother. The journey has the shape of a road trip, but its setting is far from light: a catastrophic human-robot war has left robots exiled in a wasteland. The film pairs that dystopian backdrop with eccentric companions and retro-futuristic imagery.
What is The Electric State about?
Millie Bobby Brown plays Michelle, who sets out to find her younger brother with a mysterious robot at her side. She joins forces with Keats, a smuggler played by Chris Pratt, as they travel across a United States transformed by war between humans and robots. Netflix describes the robots as banished to a remote wasteland; its Tudum guide gives the fictional exclusion zone the name “The Electric State” and a size of 200 square miles. That figure belongs to the film’s imagined world, not real geography.
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Free League Publishing The Electric State RPG Core Rulebook Tabletop Roleplaying Game for Adults,... | $44.99 | Buy on Amazon |
The road-trip structure gives the story a sequence of encounters across a damaged landscape. Its “whimsical” side comes through the unusual robot characters and the film’s retro-futuristic design; the post-apocalyptic premise supplies the danger and loss beneath that surface.
Who made the film, and who is in the cast?
Anthony and Joe Russo directed The Electric State, with a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Its principal cast includes:
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- Millie Bobby Brown as Michelle
- Chris Pratt as Keats
- Ke Huy Quan as Dr. Amherst
- Stanley Tucci as Ethan Skate
- Jason Alexander as Ted Finnster
- Giancarlo Esposito as Colonel Bradbury
The robots have a prominent voice cast: Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, and Alan Tudyk. Director Joe Russo said the design aim was to give the robots distinct functions and personalities, helping the ensemble feel like part of a lived-in world. Netflix Tudum’s film guide lists the cast and discusses the world-building.
How does the film relate to the book?
The film is based on Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 illustrated novel, but it is an expansion and reinterpretation rather than a scene-for-scene adaptation. It retains the premise of a young girl traveling west with a small robot through a high-tech wasteland, while changing the genre and enlarging the story’s world.
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Stålenhag told Netflix that he was “blown away by the movie.” He also acknowledged the genre change, saying the emotional core of family remained important. The Associated Press review noted that some robot designs evoke Stålenhag’s illustrations. That visual resemblance and shared premise do not, by themselves, mean the film follows the book’s story closely.
Readers interested in the source can look for Stålenhag’s original illustrated book, The Electric State. It is the work the film adapts, not necessarily a movie tie-in edition; check the edition and availability with the seller.
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The film balances a large-scale science-fiction adventure with a family-centered search. Its robots and alternate-1990s setting lend it a playful, retro-futuristic look, while the war’s consequences keep the story dystopian. “Whimsical” is therefore a useful description of some of its flavor, not a claim that the film is lighthearted throughout.
Critical response was not uniformly enthusiastic. In a review published March 12, 2025, Associated Press critic Lindsey Bahr praised the scale, cast, science-fiction imagery, and robot designs while criticizing the film’s pace and distinctiveness, calling it “big, ambitious and dull.” That is Bahr’s assessment, not a consensus measure.
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How long is The Electric State, and what is its rating?
Netflix lists the film as PG-13 with a runtime of 2 hours 8 minutes. The Associated Press independently gives the runtime as 128 minutes and also reports a PG-13 rating, citing science-fiction violence and action, language, and some thematic material. Availability, audio, subtitles, and download options can vary by country and change over time; check the title page in your region for current details.
Netflix’s title page has the current listing. For production credits, see the Netflix Media Center page. The AP review is available at Associated Press.
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- A JOURNEY-DRIVEN ILLUSTRATED RULEBOOK: This role-playing game quest book emphasizes exploration and personal growth, focusing on the travelers' experiences and how the post-apocalyptic world shapes them along the way.
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