Earlier this month a few screenshots were released for The Electric State, the feature being produced through Netflix that adapts Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 graphic novel of the same name. Thanks to the publicity machine that is NYCC 2024, we now have a full trailer for this thing, and….
I might be alone in this but I was hoping for something a bit wackier, given what we learned about The Electric State two weeks ago. The movie goes off on a different path from the book, and is set in an alternate 1994 where goofy-looking animatronic robots have risen up and displaced humanity as the leaders of the world. It’s in this situation that we find Michelle (Millie Bobby Brown), an ex-musician on the hunt for her brother. One day a smiling yellow robot shows up and implies he knows exactly where Bro is. Thus the journey begins.
This could still turn out to be a comedy, but the trailer takes itself far too seriously, even though we know The Electric State stars both Chris Pratt and a rogue robotic Mr. Peanut. Other characters in the film are played by Giancarlo Esposito, Alan Tudyk, Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, Jenny Slate, Woody Norman and Terry Notary.
“The intent was to create complex feelings for you, where it’s both funny and tragic at the same time,” says Joe Russo, who directs alongside his brother Anthony. “The mythology behind the film is that robots were created in this world to be pleasing to the eye, to feel non-threatening, to make you love them. To make you smile, to sell you things, to take care of you. So they have a cartoonish aspect to them by design in the movie. These robots had the most benign appearance possible, and they end up feeling that they’re being mistreated and have a desire to be treated as equals with humans, which leads to a war. And now you have this strange dichotomy playing out where these very pleasing and palatable service bots are now trying to kill you.”
At this point, I don’t know what we’re really in for. It could be brilliant or it could be the biggest mistake of Millie’s career. Let’s find out together. The Electric State lands on Netflix March 14, 2025.
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