Remember when Netflix used to be a disruptive streaming platform? When it dominated the industry by making and licensing great content, instead of dumping truckloads of cash into every mediocre blockbuster wannabe? Yeah, those days are long gone. Case in point: The Electric State, the streamer’s movie that cost a jaw-dropping $320 million and somehow managed to be both forgettable and poorly reviewed — as well as one of the most expensive movies of all time. Certainly the priciest one that Netflix has ever made.
I’ve long bemoaned the quality of Netflix’s offerings of late, and in this post I want to put the insane budget of The Electric State, which has an 18% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, into perspective. By the way, it was directed by The Russo Brothers, making this their lowest-rated non-MCU movie.
Here’s why it’s so insane that Netflix spent that much money on a movie that will never be seen in theaters: That’s roughly how much the last 13 Best Picture Oscar winners cost to make, whereas Netflix spent that whole amount on a single dud that most sane people think is a giant waste of time. Compare The Electric State’s $320 million budget to the money spent on:
- Anora (2024) – $6 million
- Oppenheimer (2023) – $100 million
- Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) – $25 million
- CODA (2021) – $20 million
- Nomadland (2020) – $5 million
- Parasite (2019) – $11.4 million
- Green Book (2018) – $23 million
- The Shape of Water (2017) – $20 million
- Moonlight (2016) – $1.5 million
- Spotlight (2015) – $20 million
- Birdman (2014) – $18 million
- 12 Years a Slave (2013) – $22 million
- Argo (2012) – $44.5 million
That’s 13 critically acclaimed, award-winning films, some of which are among the best movies ever made, for about the same price as Netflix’s latest faceplant.
Let’s be honest: The Electric State was never going to be an all-time classic. Sure, it had a big-name cast (Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Stanley Tucci) and the Russo Brothers directing, but so did The Gray Man, another overpriced Netflix bomb. Did Netflix learn anything? Of course not. Instead, they doubled down on their strategy of spending Marvel money on movies with the shelf life of a ripe avocado.
At this point, Netflix executives must be playing a high-stakes game of Monopoly where the only properties available are “Generic Sci-Fi Movie That Looks Expensive” and “Chris Hemsworth Action Sequel No One Asked For.” Meanwhile, the rest of Hollywood is out here making Parasite for $11 million and Moonlight for a fraction of what The Electric State cost.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good, big-budget blockbuster as much as anyone. But if you’re going to spend one-third of a billion dollars, maybe try making something that’s not instantly forgettable? Maybe greenlight ten smaller movies with actual storytelling chops instead of one bloated, CGI-laden spectacle that people stop talking about the day after it drops? Just a thought, Netflix; you have so much money. Maybe try being a little smarter with it.
Because The Electric State is so thought-provoking, it eventually makes you start thinking things. Like, why am I still paying for Netflix?
