“The Electric State” is a shockingly better than expected watch
“The Electric State,” released on March 14, was a surprising watch. This is not to say that it is one one of my favorite movies ever, but I fairly enjoyed it. I went into it with low expectations, as I had heard little to nothing in terms of advertisements before finding it on Netflix. I saw no trailers, no posters and no interview clips regarding this newly-released movie. Therefore, I entered completely blind, but it did not take very long for me to catch up on the plot.
The movie takes place in the 90’s, following a war between robots and humans. It is a dystopian setting in which humans and robots interact to communicate a larger message. This larger message, however, is not very hard to understand.
One thing I did appreciate was how “The Electric State” made me think. It so clearly paralleled the way society is becoming reliant on technology, and prompted me to consider how healthy my personal use of technology is. This was not extremely unique however, as the intention of most films today is to make audiences think.
Starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, “The Electric State” is an emotional story with obvious implications in relation to the real world. The dynamic between Brown and Pratt was extremely fun to watch. Stanley Tucci also does a very good job playing a stereotypical villain. It was hard to compare these with other performances, as they were mostly done through vocals because they were robots. However, this is not to say that the interactions between robots and humans were bad. They worked as great comedic relief, which was surprising, considering the heavy weight of the message that they worked to carry.
Visually, the film is fun. While the shots and directorial choices are nothing new per se, the technical elements and 90’s-dystopian vibe make it what it is. This includes the coloring of the movie and the costumes, which both had a very vintage feel to them, specifically the robots. I am not sure how the technicalities behind the robots work, but they did look very cool. The soundtrack was also a point of enjoyment for me, as it incorporated a lot of classic 80s and 90s songs, which very much helped with the overall vibe of the film.
Though the plot was fairly predictable, that’s not always a bad thing. While the rating is PG-13, I found it to be fairly kid-friendly, and got the initial impression that it was meant to be a family film. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, and I would suggest it for anyone who would want a casual movie that does not require you to pay much attention, yet if you do you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised. While it is nothing groundbreaking, it is still a cute and satisfying watch.
