Netflix's most expensive movie in history debuts to 23% on Rotten Tomatoes despite $320,000,000 budget

Netflix's most expensive movie ever gets a rough start with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%.

The streaming giant's latest film is arriving on the platform this week with an eye-watering $320 million (£266 million) budget.

But despite its big-name cast, acclaimed directors and massive production scale, the adventure comedy The Electric State isn’t winning over critics.

Directed by Marvel filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, who were the talent behind Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the sci-fi film has been in the works for over seven years.

The story follows Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as Michelle, an orphaned teenager, on a mission to find her missing younger brother in a dangerous world devastated by a robot war. On her way, she teams up with Chris Pratt’s drifter, Keats, to help her on her mission.

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Given the Russo brothers’ track record in the Marvel franchise, expectations were high.

But early reviews suggest The Electric State isn’t living up to the hype.

The retro-futuristic film landed a debut Rotten Tomatoes score of just 10% before climbing slightly to 18%.

Now, The Electric State has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 23%, based on 22 reviews, suggesting that critics are far from impressed.

"The most expensive movie in Netflix history is a massive $320 million boondoggle," read one review.

"Has so much potential, especially its commentary on how technology and the internet has taken over everyone’s minds since the ‘90s, but it often gets so corny that I couldn’t fully get behind it," another critic wrote.

Chris Pratt stars in Netflix's new sci-fi, The Electric State / Patricia J. Garcinuno / Stringer

"The Electric State proves that even if you have strong source material and excellent visuals, you can’t always rise above the stereotypes of generic Netflix blockbusters," argued someone else.

One viewer went as far as to say that the movie plot seemed like the 'results of ChatGPT prompts'.

Meanwhile, some viewers that gave the film a Fresh rating were often praising parts that were in spite of others, as one acknowledged the movie's 'originality' that was 'underneath the samey story and MCU-quip-a-thon dialogue.'

Another genuinely admired the 'seamless blend of CGI VFX and animation' and 'genuine character work.'

But, despite the lukewarm reception, Netflix has a history of blockbuster hits that fare better with audiences than critics - or at least the Russo brothers do.

Take the Russo brothers' last Netflix movie, The Gray Man, which scored just 45% with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes but landed an audience total of 90%.

So, viewers will get their chance to judge The Electric State for themselves when it premieres on Netflix on 14 March 2025.