Tesla (2020) on Netflix
In 1884 New York City, Nikola Tesla works for Thomas Edison, who brushes aside his alternating current ideas. Anne Morgan narrates as Tesla seeks backers for his spark-less induction motor.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb5.1/1011,594 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes58%
Trailer
Plot summary
Anne Morgan steps in with a laptop to narrate the life of Nikola Tesla, starting with a boyhood moment when he stroked a cat and saw static electricity. In 1884 New York City, Tesla works for Thomas Edison, who ignores his suggestion to use alternating current and will not pay him. A coworker attributes Edison's cold manner partly to his wife's recent death. Tesla and his friend Szigeti show an induction motor that draws praise, and a professor advises splitting it into several patents. Tesla also meets Anne, the daughter of the banker J.P. Morgan. George Westinghouse buys the patents, funds production, and agrees to pay Tesla a royalty for every unit installed in a home. Edison counters that his own current is the better choice and calls the other kind unsafe.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Tesla (2020)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Michael Almereyda's Tesla screenplay was an updated version of the first feature he ever wrote, a Tesla biopic that had been optioned to Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski but was never made.
- Ethan Hawke drew inspiration for his Nikola Tesla from Tesla's own writings and from singer David Bowie, who had played Tesla in The Prestige (2006).
