The Electric State ending explained: Could Christopher still be alive?

Her life is turned upside down when a robot named Cosmo shows up on her door and claims to be controlled by her missing – and seemingly dead – genius brother Christopher.

Confused and intrigued, she soon finds herself on a mission to find out what exactly has happened to her sibling, bringing her into contact with Chris Pratt's rogue-ish smuggler Keats, some nefarious guys from tech giant Sentre and all manner of robot veterans of a recently quashed uprising.

Seen the film and need the final moments unpacked? Read on to have The Electric State ending explained.

The Electric State ending explained

The first big breakthrough on Michelle and Cosmo's search for Christopher is when they come across Dr Amherst (Ke Huy Quan) – the very same doctor who had previously informed her of her brother's death.

Unsurprisingly, It turns out that this had not quite been the truth: for a long time, Christopher has in fact been kept in a coma by Sentre. It is his brain that has allowed the company's key invention – the Neurocaster – to work, given that the system needed a huge amount of computer power to run on.

The plan had been to keep him in a coma indefinitely, but then Christopher unexpectedly woke up. And though Amherst had developed a conscience and tried to free him, Sentre head honcho Ethan Skate outlawed this, kicking the Doctor out.

Before he left, Amherst ensured that though Christopher's body would not be able to escape, his mind would – which is what had allowed him to control Cosmo and reach out to his sister. But with his mind gone, the Sentre network is at risk of failing, which is why Skate has now sent his cronies – including Colonel Marshall Bradbury (Giancarlo Esposito) – after Cosmo and Michelle.

Some big action scenes follow in which Cosmo is captured, Amherst is killed and Michelle manages to infiltrate Sentre HQ and virtually reunite with Christopher as a large battle rages outside between the friendly robots and Skate's drones. Unfortunately, when she speaks to her brother, he doesn't seem especially optimistic about finding a way out.

She comes to realise – with Christopher's help – that the only way of defeating Skate and his allies is by switching off her brother's life support and thus cutting Sentre's networks, and so she tearfully does just that as the emotional music swells.

Thankfully, it appears to do the job – all the drones power off and we later learn that, in the aftermath, Skate has been arrested and his evil deeds made public.

What does Michelle's video message mean?

The film ends with a plea from Michelle for people to reject Sentre's technological advancements – specifically the neurocasters – and embrace the power of human connection, all while a montage of various scenes from throughout the movie and her earlier life play.

Recording a video of herself, she says: "This is Michelle Green. I know some of you are a little freaked out about me and my friends [the robots] and what we did. The world's different now, I just wanted to tell you why. The things Sentre did, they weren't just bad for robots, they were bad for all of us."

She continues: "I know the war happened, and things fell apart and life really sucked. And maybe for a little while the neurocasters helped you forget that. We got so used to it, that we thought that's what real life was. But it's not. Real life, it's contact, it's you and me.

"We're flesh and bone, yeah but we're also electricity and when we hug and laugh and hold hands and argue, my particles stay with you and yours stay with me. And maybe we stay together for ever, but that can't happen if you close yourself off. It can only happen out here, in the real world.

"Look around, there's someone near you right now. They're real and alive. And they need you as much as you need them. And if there isn't, if you don't have anyone, then come find us. Because we're starting over. We're going to do it right this time. Together."

It's clear that the film's message is for its viewers not to lose themselves entirely in the virtual world – whether that be on their phones, computers or games consoles – but keep in touch with real people and real feelings and make real human connections.

Could Christopher still be alive?

While we quite clearly see Christopher's physical body pass away when Michelle switches off his life support, there is a small indication at the end of the film that some of his consciousness might just have survived.

At the very end of the film, after Michelle films the aforementioned video (and while a slowed down piano cover of Wonderwall plays), we see a lifeless Cosmo being dumped in a scrap heap.

But in the final shot, he appear to turn his head towards a nearby dog, as the music switches to The Flaming Lips's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 1.

And so it appears that, on some level at least, Christopher is still around, even if only as a robot...

The Electric State is now streaming on Netflix – sign up from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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