The Russo brothers and The Electric State cast talk the surprisingly emotional core of the Netflix sci-fi movie: "I was definitely very, very, very moved"

Millie Bobby Brown in The Electric State — (Image credit: Netflix)

The Electric State, the latest movie from the Russo brothers, revolves around a surprisingly emotional story: one young woman's quest to find her missing brother.

Michelle, played by Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, sets off accompanied by an enigmatic robot and Chris Pratt's soldier turned smuggler Keats to try and find her brother, venturing through a dangerous wasteland of sentient robots (in this alternate version of the '90s, a war broke out between these robots and humanity, with humankind emerging victorious).

The story is a sentimental one, with Pratt previously saying he was "moved to tears" when he read the script. "There's definitely an emotional through line in the script that is really beautiful," he tells GamesRadar+ when we meet with him over Zoom. "Primarily, the main emotional arc is between Michelle and her brother and her quest to find him… No spoilers, it's a film about grief and letting go. And so at that point in the script, I was definitely very, very, very moved, and I think the movie did a great job of executing on that vision."

On the journey, Keats and Michelle – and their respective robot companions – become almost like a dysfunctional family. It was a dynamic that was mirrored on set, too. "I think it just came naturally to us," explains Brown. "I think when we first started getting to know each other, it was just like, 'Okay, how is this dynamic going to work?' And we just fell into this kind of brother/sister relationship. The banter was great, the back and forth was great, and then that started really translating on screen. So we were really lucky. I think it's a rarity to be able to find someone that you're able to really admire, look up to, be inspired by, be motivated, but also laugh and have so much fun and create together, collaborate together. It was a true joy."

And, as Joe Russo points out, a lot of the emotional weight rests on Brown's shoulders. "I think it's a really difficult movie, especially for Millie, because she's playing a character who's lost her family and is searching for her brother, who she believes may still be alive," he says. "And so it's a very emotional arc for her. She's the grounding element in the film. And the movie was always intended to make you laugh and make you cry. So that was our hope, is that we can give you a full narrative experience."