In the world of The Electric State, the ’90s look a little different. Sure, plaid flannel shirts and grunge black eyeliner are still in, but a catastrophic war between humans and robots has left the world scarred and divided. With robots banished to a remote wasteland, an uneasy peace has been reached — but it may not last for long. 

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (Avengers: Endgame, The Gray Man) from a script by Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely, The Electric State follows a young woman (played by Millie Bobby Brown) who embarks on a perilous journey across the American West, accompanied by a mysterious toy robot and a roguish smuggler (Chris Pratt). Together, they’ll unravel a mechanical conspiracy at the center of the American heartland.

Read on to download more information about The Electric State.

What is The Electric State about?

The Electric State tells the story of Michelle (Brown), a young woman traveling with a sweet but mysterious robot. The pair reluctantly team up with eccentric drifter Keats (Pratt), and set out on a cross-country road trip to find Michelle’s younger brother. Along the way, they have to navigate an electrified, retro-futuristic US landscape with eerie similarities to our own time. 

“We love epic storytelling,” Anthony Russo tells Tudum, “and The Electric State felt like it encapsulated the zeitgeist in terms of what’s happening in this moment between humans and our connection to technology. Even though it’s set in the 1990s, it speaks very powerfully to what we’re all going through today.”

“We grew up on a steady diet of science-fiction and fantasy,” Joe Russo told Netflix. “And so our brains are always [there]. Our creative ethos is always attracted to these big, fantastical ideas that can present really interesting themes but also be highly entertaining at the same time.”

When will The Electric State be on Netflix?

The Electric State is now streaming on Netflix.

Can I see a trailer for The Electric State?

Charge up with the new trailer at the top of this story, which introduces a retro-futuristic US where robots have been banished to a 200-square-mile area known as “The Electric State” in the aftermath of a devastating war. Humans are barred from entering, but those treacherous ruins may hold the answers Brown’s character is searching for. 

The Russos and the VFX team worked to strike a highly specific visual tone for the film. “Our goal was to create a world that felt fully lived-in, and that meant designing an ensemble of robots that each had a distinct function and personality,” said Joe Russo. “The robots in The Electric State had to feel authentic to this alternate 1990s but they still had roots in recognizable designs.”

Is The Electric State based on a book?

Yes. The Electric State is an explosive adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 graphic novel of the same name about a young girl and her small yellow toy robot who travel west through a high-tech wasteland. The Russos’ version takes the story concept and runs with it, expanding the world while remaining true to the emotional threads Stålenhag weaved into his work.

“I’m blown away by the movie,” Stålenhag told Netflix. “It was an amazing experience watching things that I have drawn come to life this way. What resonated most with me was the emotional core of the movie, which is the need for family. Even though the movie has changed genre from the book a bit, that main core is still the same and has been expanded on beautifully.”

The Russos and writers Markus and McFeely were in communication with Stålenhag throughout the film’s development, and he was pleased to see the creative liberties they took to make the film stand on its own. “They asked me questions about the timeline and backstory, but it’s their work,” he said. “They’re the best in the world at what they do, and to see them work on a project that comes from me, it’s beyond satisfying, surreal. I am so positively surprised by the end result.”

Paul Abell

Who’s in the cast of The Electric State?

• Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things, Enola Holmes) as Michelle
• Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World) as Keats
• Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) as Dr. Amherst
• Stanley Tucci (Julie and Julia, The Hunger Games) as Ethan Skate
• Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Leo) as Ted Finnster
• Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Do the Right Thing) as Colonel Bradbury
• Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon, The Last Voyage of the Demeter)
• Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, We Have a Ghost) as Herman
• Alan Tudyk (American Dad, Resident Alien) as Cosmo
• Woody Harrelson (Zombieland, The Man from Toronto) as Mr. Peanut
• Brian Cox (Succession, Red) as Pop Fly
• Jenny Slate (Obvious Child, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) as Penny Pal
• Hank Azaria (The Simpsons, The Birdcage) as Perplexo

To learn more about the film’s human and robot ensemble, check out our cast guide here.

The Electric State reunites a few mainstays from the Russo brothers’ previous films: Pratt and Mackie, who starred in their Avengers films, play the bickering man and robot duo seen in the clip above. And The Gray Man writers Markus and McFeely (who also served as scribes on the Russos’ Captain America and Avengers films) teamed up once more on the screenplay.

“We gravitate to ensemble storytelling,” Anthony Russo told Netlix. “Maybe it’s because we come from a large extended Italian American family. No matter how small a role is, we look at that character as having a very important part in the storytelling, and we like to look at it from that character’s point of view.”

Putting together a hybrid cast consisting of people and machines presented a unique challenge for the filmmakers. “Because of our work on Infinity War and Endgame, we’ve had extensive experience blending motion capture performances with VFX which was invaluable for The Electric State,” Joe Russo tells Tudum. “We wanted to push the boundaries of what’s possible with robotic characters. We worked closely with [head of the movement team] Terry Notary and an incredible team of motion capture performers.”

Watch State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State Podcast, Episode 1

Can I listen to a podcast about The Electric State ?

Absolutely! You’ve been given clearance to the official companion podcast to the film,  State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State. Hosted by Francesca Amiker, the six episodes plug into the vision behind the film and its groundbreaking technology, featuring interviews with the Russo brothers and stars Brown and Pratt, among others. Watch the first episode, “The Secret to Getting Inspired” above, with new episodes going live each week. 

Can I see a clip from The Electric State?

Check it out below: In a clip released as part of the Next on Netflix event, you can catch a glimpse of Brown and Pratt catching a ride in a retro VW van — perched on the shoulder of an enormous bot. Keats and his wisecracking robot sidekick, Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie), banter about the roots of their unlikely friendship. 

Watch a Sneak Peek of The Electric State