Netflix’s ‘most expensive film ever’ branded ‘soulless and unoriginal’ by viewers

By Pune Media On Jun 10, 2025

Netflix’s The Electric State is the streaming giant’s most expensive film to date, with a reported budget of $320 million, but it failed to impress critics

Netflix’s The Electric State, with its whopping $320 million budget and a whole host of stars, divided audiences and received a scant 14% critic approval rating.

The high-octane sci-fi flick was released earlier this year and stars big names like Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander, Brian Cox and Anthony Mackie — in both on-screen and vocal performances. Helmed by the renowned Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe Russo, The Electric State adapts Simon Stalenhag’s vividly-illustrated 2018 novel.

The story, penned by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, takes us back to an alternate ’90s rocked by an epic robot-human war. With critics panning the film, The Electric State came to Netflix on March 14 after being made with a $300 million budget, the platform’s priciest movie yet.

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Setting aside the criticism, The Electric State exploded, with 25.2 million views mere days after dropping. It even sparked a mobile game mania, as Netflix Games launched The Electric State: Kid Cosmo for smartphone addicts, following the film’s flashy premiere.

Despite making a visual impact with its stunning effects, The Electric State couldn’t dodge the biting comments from critics. One reviewer was unimpressed despite the high-quality visuals, “It looks phenomenal – the quality of the special effects is exceptional. But this is soulless, emotionally inert storytelling.”

Another simply said the film offered nothing new, “The plot is a watered-down grab-bag of old, tired ideas.” Descriptions like “The movie is obvious, garish and just plain dumb” and sentiments like finding it “dull as dirt” also surfaced.

A critic added to the negative chorus, “The Electric State had “no soul, no originality, just a great big multicolour wedge of digital content.”

Contrastingly, the audience feedback painted a different picture. An ecstatic viewer disagreed with the critics, “This movie is absolutely fire. What were the critics thinking when they made a review. This movie is always action-packed, has a beaming audience and has a good mix of action, horror and humour. Definitely worth a watch!”

Others sang praises too, with remarks like, “I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun, light, creative, and had a non-formulaic plot. No, this is not a critics darling or a Cannes contender, but I would watch it again. What a fun cast! I wish Hollywood took more risks like this.”

Meanwhile, another viewer summed it up as a “fun watch” bewildered by the critics’ severe judgment and asserting that The Electric State was “better than so many garbage movies.”

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