The Electric State: 2025's Most-Watched Sci-Fi Film Despite Poor Reviews

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Published Jan 29, 2026, 4:25 PM EST

Makuochi Echebiri is a News Writer for Collider. He has been interested in creative writing from as far back as high school, and he would consume pretty much anything that’s film or TV. However, his truest love lies in the presence of historical epics and thrillers.

Lured by the brilliance of Middle Earth from an early age both in print and on screen, his palate has since expanded to other realms including Westeros, Kattegat among others. He also possesses a great appetite for the stories that emanate from the vastness of space. Even though he is no Avenger.

Obsessed with storytelling and having works of his own that have yet to make it to print, he is content to use that ability to communicate to as many as are reachable. In his spare time, he looks out for avenues where he can aid people aside from his plans to reign over this earthly realm. Yes…you heard that first here.

When Netflix released The Electric State, its biggest tentpole film of 2025, critics were merciless. The retro-futuristic sci-fi adventure was quickly branded one of the year’s worst adaptations, and that stigma showed up almost immediately in its ratings. Measured against past releases of similar scale, The Electric State was widely deemed a failure, with viewership that seemed nowhere near enough to justify its eye-popping $320 million budget. However, it seems time has been kinder to the Russo Brothers' ambitious project. A new report now reveals that The Electric State ultimately drew enough eyeballs to rank among 2025’s most-watched films on streaming.

The new rankings come from Nielsen’s annual streaming data, which tracks and ranks every title across major platforms between December 30, 2024, and December 28, 2025. The Electric State premiered in March, allowing its reported 3.86 billion minutes viewed to accumulate over roughly nine months. That total falls well short of Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz's Back in Action (which reached 6 billion minutes viewed) and Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2 (7.07 billion), both other Netflix originals, which cost significantly less to make. Regardless, The Electric State's showing still represents a meaningful win for a project that was largely written off upon release.

Adapted from Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 illustrated novel, The Electric State was particularly criticized for taking extensive liberties with its source material. The film currently sits at a bleak 14% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site’s consensus damning it as “lumbering along like a giant automaton,” possessing "plenty of hardware," but essentially lacking the spark needed to "make it come to life." Audiences, however, were far more forgiving. While the film’s hostile critical reception may have initially deterred viewers, word of mouth appears to have proven persuasive over time. Viewers have rated the film at a considerably stronger 67%, based on feedback from more than 5,000 users.

Should 'The Electric State' Get a Sequel?

Given the level of star power Netflix poured into The Electric State, both in front of and behind the camera, along with its hefty price tag, it’s reasonable to assume the streamer envisioned more than a one-off film. Investments of that scale are rarely made with short-term returns in mind. However, the movie’s underwhelming opening appears to have stalled whatever broader plans may have been in place.

The Electric State has a loose, near-cliffhanger ending that leaves some room for continuation, but with the source material itself concluding ambiguously, it’s difficult to pinpoint a clear path forward. Netflix has yet to comment on any sequel plans, and that silence may be telling. While there have been whispers of a television series, nothing has been made official. Stay tuned for future updates.