The bewildering disconnect between the project’s budget and what we see on the screen is by far the most (read: only) compelling part of The Electric State. The last film the Russos made, 2022’s The Gray Man,

Set in an alternate 1990s where robots have been exiled following a failed uprising, the plot of The Electric State follows orphaned teenager Michelle, played by Millie Bobby Brown, who embarks on a journey across the American Southwest to find her missing brother, Christopher.

In making the leap from the page to the screen as a 1990s-set adaptation that stretches the definition of “live-action” as much as some Disney’s modern-era remakes, The Electric State unfortunately falls short of matching the source material’s uniqueness and whimsy – despite boasting myriad talents both in front of the camera and behind it.