The Electric State (2025)
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In a dystopian 1990s, a girl and a sentient robot must journey across a wasteland to find her brother's consciousness.
The story
In an alternate 1990, a war between humans and robots has left the world in disarray. Following a victory by humanity through Neurocaster technology, many people now live in a semi-vegetative state while drones perform labor. In 1994, a teenager named Michelle lives with her foster father and struggles at school for refusing to use Neurocaster technology. Her life changes when she is approached by Cosmo, a sentient robot claiming to be controlled by her long-lost brother, Christopher. Together, they embark on a journey across a dystopian landscape to find him, seeking help from a doctor who can confirm the boy's status.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In an alternate 1990, a war between humans and robots left the world in disarray. Humanity won by using Neurocaster technology to upload minds into drones, leading many to live in a semi-vegetative state. In 1994, teenager Michelle, who refuses to use the technology, meets Cosmo, a sentient robot. Cosmo claims to be controlled by her brother, Christopher, who was presumed dead in a crash. They travel across a dystopian landscape to find Dr. Clark Amherst. They eventually reach the Exclusion Zone and learn that Sentre used Christopher's intellect to power the Neurocaster technology. After a conflict where Sentre's drones reclaim Christopher, Michelle and her companions infiltrate Sentre's headquarters. Michelle finds Christopher in a comatose state; his consciousness is trapped in the system. In the virtual realm, he asks to be freed. Michelle disconnects him, freeing his spirit but causing his physical body to die. This triggers a shutdown of the drone army. In the aftermath, the leader of the drones, Skate, is arrested, and the world begins to rebuild. Michelle broadcasts the truth of the Neurocaster's impact, while Cosmo is shown rising in a junkyard, suggesting a remnant of Christopher remains.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 128
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joe Russo
- Writers
- Christopher Markus · screenplay; Stephen McFeely · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Millie Bobby Brown · Michelle; Chris Pratt; Ke Huy Quan; Jason Alexander; Woody Harrelson; Anthony Mackie; Brian Cox; Jenny Slate; Giancarlo Esposito · Marshall; Stanley Tucci
- Genres
- science fiction; action-adventure
- Themes
- human-robot conflict; corporate greed; artificial intelligence; identity
- Tone and mood
- dystopian; retro-futuristic
- Setting
- An alternate 1990s and 1994 in a dystopian world.
- Premise and plot tags
- post-apocalyptic; sci-fi; adventure
- Source material / true-story basis
- the 2018 illustrated novel by Simon Stålenhag
- Reception
- The film received negative reviews from critics, who criticized the plot and unfaithfulness to the original source material, although the visual effects and action sequences were praised.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 30 · scale: 100 · review count: 37; IGN · score: 4 · scale: 10; The Sunday Times · score: 1 · scale: 5
- Production trivia
- One of the most expensive films ever made with a $320 million budget.; The film's plot was adapted to include 1990s aesthetics and robotic animatronics.; A video game titled The Electric State: Kid Cosmo was released on March 18, 2025.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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