The Electric State: Savage reviews but Netflix’s $320m blockbuster is a hit” BBC
Netflix’s latest big-budget film The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, is one of the most expensive movies ever made, and had some of the most scathing reviews in recent memory. But that doesn’t mean it will flop.

Film critics haven’t minced their words when delivering their verdicts on The Electric State.

It is “a turgid eyesore” and “top-dollar tedium”, according to the Times. It’s “slick but dismally soulless”, declared the Hollywood Reporter, while the New York Times called it “obvious, garish and just plain dumb”.

Paste pointed out its eye-watering budget, billing it as “the most banal way you can spend $320m”. Warming to the theme, the magazine summed it up as “one hell of an artistically neutered, sanitized boondoggle”.

There have been some kinder reviews. Empire said it was “breezily watchable” and worth three stars, while the Telegraph awarded four stars to the “Spielbergian treat”.

But overall, its 15% Rotten Tomatoes score is a meagre return for any major film, especially one costing such a lot. The $320m (£247m) figure has been widely reported but neither confirmed nor denied by Netflix. It would make The Electric State the most expensive streaming film ever.

Critics’ opinions, however, have become more irrelevant in the streaming age. The bad reviews didn’t stop The Electric State from going straight to number one on Netflix’s chart after its release on Friday.

It fits into Netflix making star-packed, entertaining and escapist movies that often get panned by reviewers – but are watched by hundreds of millions of subscribers.