The Electric State ending explained: Do Michelle and Christopher unite at the end?

The Electric State is a sci-fi adventure comedy that premiered on Netflix on March 14. Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, the movie is a loose adaptation of Simon Stålenhag's eponymous graphic novel released in 2018.

The movie had its world premiere on February 24, 2025, at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Los Angeles. It stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt alongside several other Hollywood heavyweights such as Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito.

Set in an alternative reality 1994, The Electric State follows an orphaned girl named Michelle (Brown) who learns that her brother, Christopher (Woody Norman), is alive. She embarks on a journey across America's West to find her only living family member with a robot. On the way, she partners with Keats (Pratt) and his smart robot friend. The movie ends on an emotional note as Michelle finds Christopher, but their union does not last long.

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Why did Michelle and Christopher part again at the end of The Electric State?

A still from The Electric State (Image via Netflix)

The Electric State is yet another movie where a war between machines and humans ends with the latter winning. However, the win was only hypothetical in this case because humans were able to win with the help of other machines.

The only difference was that these new machines were powered by Sentre's Neurocaster technology, a form of advanced virtual reality, developed by tech mogul Ethan Skater (Stanley Tucci). The technology was widely used by people across the world, which had resulted in humans' detachment from the real world.

Initially developed for the military, this technology directly interfaced with the brain and allowed humans to experience fully immersive digital environments by connecting to a neural network. Over time, people became addicted to the technology, and this contributed to the dystopian decay of society.

As the movie progressed, Michelle met Dr. Amherst (Ke Huy Quan), the doctor who told her that her brother passed away after the car accident in which she lost her family. Dr. Amherst told Michelle, Keats, their respective robot sidekicks, and some other robots whom they had befriended that Christopher was alive and his genius brain was powering the mainframe of Sentre’s entire network.

Disconnecting Christopher would shut down Sentre's neurocaster technology worldwide. Michelle managed to convince the group of robots to wage a war against Sentre in pursuit of freedom. While the robots and Keats clashed with Sentre's drones, Michelle sneaked into Sentre's building with Dr. Amherst's mechanical manifestation.

Michelle, who had refused to use Neurocaster up until then, finally used it to speak to Christopher's mind directly. Upon her younger brother's insistence, she decided to pull the plug on his life support system. It was too late to save his fading human body, which had developed a symbiotic relationship with the technology.

The robots and Keats won the war against Sentre's drones, and humans returned back to reality. However, as the elderly statesman robot, Pop Fly (Brian Cox), pointed out to a celebrating Keats: someone always loses.

Michelle lost her brother for a second time, and this time, she did it with her own hands. By doing so, like Christopher had said, Michelle changed the world; not only did she save human society from any further decay, but also freed Christopher’s mind from his trapped body.

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What happens after Christopher's death in The Electric State?

Woody Norman as Christopher in The Electric State (Image via Netflix)

After Christopher's death, news of Skate's evil experimentation on a human child goes viral, effectively putting an end to the tech mogul and his company, Sentre. Michelle recorded a video message in which she insisted that humans and robots work together towards a better future where humans interact with the real world and learn to co-exist with the robots.

Colonel Bradbury (Giancarlo Esposito), who had been working for Skate and hunting down robots until the end, had an epiphany when he realized that Sentre was using a young boy for its benefit. Bradbury found Skate to be even less human than robots. So, he called a truce with Mr. Peanut (Woody Harrelson), the de facto figurehead of the group of robots.

The robot Cosmo (Alan Tudyk), which Christopher had been controlling with his mind to contact his sister, regains consciousness in a landfill. While a dog was lapping at some water at the landfill, Cosmo's reflection could be seen in the water. This suggested that Christopher might not be entirely gone and some fragment of his consciousness could still exist within Cosmo.

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The Electric State is available to stream on Netflix.