Intro: What Does $320 Million Buy?

In February of 2025, Netflix released The Electric State—a widely panned sci-fi misfire starring Chris Pratt and the actress who plays Eleven in Stranger Things. Everything surrounding this film—the trailer, the press tour, and its very existence—would have been swiftly forgotten if not for one intractable detail: the movie cost $320 million.

What did this $320 million buy Netflix?

• A Metacritic score of 30 and a Rotten Tomatoes mark of 14%.

• A gaggle of reviewers lamenting that the film "lacked soul or meaning" and was "just plain dumb."

• No fewer than fifty think pieces deconstructing Netflix's moviemaking strategy.

For that same $320 million price tag, Netflix could have funded Anora—that year's Best Picture winner, reportedly made for $6 million—53 times over. Though who's to say if those 53 Anoras would have been any good.

Released after a series of critically maligned movies and the sudden departure of film head Scott Stuber, The Electric State’s dismal reception prompted industry-wide confusion about the persistent shortcomings and broader purpose of Netflix's filmmaking efforts. How could so much money be spent in service of so many subpar movies?

I recognize this article has the makings of a self-important hit piece, where an intrepid writer attempts a "vicious takedown" of the 18th most valuable company on Earth. But I have no interest in doing such a thing (nor am I capable of doing such a thing). What genuinely interests me is finding a plausible explanation for why a $530 billion company consistently falls short in its attempts to make great movies.

So today, we'll unpack what drives Netflix's underwhelming film output—and explore what purpose these streaming movies are supposed to serve.

Why Netflix Struggles to Make Good Movies

It hasn't been all bad for Netflix. In its first decade of original content production, the streamer has made some genuinely great movies. As evidence of cinematic competence, I offer the following examples: The Irishman, Hit Man, Rebel Ridge, Maestro, Roma, KPop Demon Hunters, All Quiet on the Western Front, Marriage Story, Society of the Snow—and absolutely not Emilia Pérez. (Under no circumstances should Emilia Pérez qualify.)

The streamer is capable of producing and acquiring quality films, but these cases are outliers. Across IMDb, Letterboxd, and TMDB, the typical Netflix film scores well below the platform average for theatrically