The dramatic story of the cutthroat race between electricity titans Thomas A. Edison and George Westinghouse to determine whose electrical system would power the modern world.
Three brilliant visionaries set off in a charged battle for the future in The Current War, the epic story of the cutthroat competition that literally lit up the modern world. Benedict Cumberbatch is Thomas Edison, the celebrity inventor on the verge of bringing electricity to Manhattan with his radical new DC technology. On the eve of triumph, his plans are upended by charismatic businessman George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), who believes he and his partner, the upstart genius Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult), have a superior idea for how to rapidly electrify America: with AC current. As Edison and Westinghouse grapple for who will power the nation, they spark one of the first and greatest corporate feuds in American history, establishing for future Titans of Industry the need to break all the rules. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) with Producer Timur Bekmambetov, Basil Iwanyk and Executive Producer Martin Scorsese, The Current War also stars Katherine Waterston, Tom Holland, Matthew Macfadyen and Tuppence Middleton.
The film depicts the fierce rivalry between Thomas Edison, portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch, and George Westinghouse, played by Michael Shannon, as they compete to determine the dominant electrical system to power the world. Edison promotes direct current (DC) as the standard, while Westinghouse advocates for the more efficient alternating current (AC), with the help of the brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult. The film explores the intense competition, highlighting the personal and professional stakes involved, as well as the technological and ethical challenges faced by these visionary inventors. As Edison and Westinghouse engage in a battle of innovation and ambition, they shape the future of electricity and lay the foundation for the modern technological world.
In 1880, Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) (who is cash poor and based in New Jersey) has unveiled his electric light-bulb. He plans to distribute power to American neighborhoods using Direct Current (DC), which is cheaper and cleaner than gaslight, but is limited in range and needs an expensive wiring infrastructure. Edison plans to electrify the 1st district in Manhattan but needs 2 buildings to house his dynamos.
Edison travels to the White House to present his Phonograph to the US president. The meeting is also attended by JP Morgan, who is a regular investor with Edison. Samuel Insull is Edison's private secretary. JP Morgan offers $150K to be partners, but Edison rejects the offer. Edison is dead set against using his inventions to take another human being's life.JP Morgan funds Edison for his electrification idea for the 1st district. Edison lights up the NYSE on Sep 4th, 1882.
George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon), a successful businessman (based in Pittsburg and rich) and inventor himself (he invented the Railway Air brake and had invested in natural gas as a fuel of the future), wishes to learn more, and invites Edison to dinner. After being snubbed by Edison (Edison was travelling by private train and told Insull not to stop at the Pittsburg junction and goes straight through even when Westinghouse and his wife came to the station to receive him), Westinghouse sets out to prove alternating current (AC) is the better technology, as it can work over greater distances and at significantly lower cost. Edison and Westinghouse compete to get cities across the United States to use their system.DC current required 100,000 ft of copper wiring for every 100 customers. It cannot be profitable. While AC current can travel several thousand miles with a single generator. AC current is 75% more efficient.Westinghouse does an AC demonstration at Great Barrington in March 1886.
Inventor Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) arrives in the United States and begins working with Edison, but is disappointed by Edison's unwillingness to reconsider his ideas (Tesla also believes that AC current is far more efficient and requires far less copper to transmit) (Tesla even offers to build a motor that works on AC current as none exist yet) and to fulfill what Tesla thought was a financial promise (Edison promised to pay $50K if Tesla can solve 5 problems that he can't) which Edison passes off as just a joke. Tesla then leaves Edison's team. Edison fiercely guards his patents and sues Westinghouse for using his light-bulbs without his permission. Westinghouse was using designs from Hamil, so Edison sues him for the design of the corkscrews on the bulbs, which Edison owns outright. SP, Westinghouse designs a twist and lock fitting.
Edison suggests to the press that AC is dangerous/lethal and engages in a publicity war, while Westinghouse stands behind its technical merits. As Edison struggles to find ways to make DC more affordable, Westinghouse attempts to get the high-voltage AC system to work with motors.Edison's wife Mary Stilwell Edison (Tuppence Middleton) dies, and Westinghouse is also struck by personal tragedy when his friend Franklin Pope (Stanley Townsend) dies in an electrical accident (while building an AC motor in his lab). Both face significant financial risk.
Tesla forms his own Electric company and sells his patents to fund it. He starts work on building electric arcs as a means of distributing electricity, but they are not commercially viable. Tesla has significant issues with his investors when he says he wants to work on his AC motor. He is fired from his own company.
To generate funds Edison commercially sells his speaking machine "The Phonograph" in 1890. To damage the reputation of AC, Edison shows that it easily electrocutes animals, and secretly works to help the creators of the electric chair, despite his previous objections to manufacturing weapons or other machines of death. Westinghouse starts losing cities to Edison after Frank's death as people realize the dangers of AC current travelling at high voltage. JP Morgan offers to buy out Westinghouse's company for $5 MM, but he refuses when JP Morgan says that Edison will choose the current that runs America. Marguerite Erskine Walker (Katherine Waterston) is Westinghouse's wife and calls him absurd for deciding to close down the company instead. But by next morning, Westinghouse decides to carry on.
The first person to die by electrocution is William Kemmler (Conor MacNeill), and newspapers label the event as "Far Worse Than Hanging". Westinghouse hires lawyers to prove in court that the electric chair is not the most humane way to kill a criminal. The lawyers put Edison on trial to testify that there is no proof that AC current is "painless". Edison has a stellar reputation in America and the court goes with his advice that AC current is painless and humane.Westinghouse discovers Edison's involvement and reveals it to the press. Now the public blames Edison for advising the state to carry out the gruesome execution using AC currents.
After an unsuccessful attempt to strike out on his own, Tesla is approached by Westinghouse to work together and build a practical AC motor. Tesla had the designs for an AC motor, but no funds to build one, and Westinghouse offers the funding. Tesla is willing to sell the motor for $1000. Westinghouse laughs and offers $2.5 per horsepower of every AC motor delivered. Tesla will be a millionaire.Edison is increasingly marginalized and J. P. Morgan (Matthew Macfadyen) merges Edison Electric into General Electric. Edison will get some stock and retain a board seat.
The competing systems come to a head as they both put forward proposals to illuminate the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.Samuel Insull (Tom Holland) presents the bid on behalf of Edison, and Westinghouse presents his competing bid. The fair is abundantly lit, and Westinghouse is successful. At the fair Westinghouse and Edison meet briefly. Edison discusses what it was like to achieve a great invention and suggests that his next invention (motion pictures) could be so incredible that people might forget his name was ever associated with electricity.
Telsa and Westinghouse created an AC Dynamo out of Niagara Falls and made electricity distribution at an unprecedented scale. Tesla died, without money (unable to profit from his inventions) in room 3327 of his New York hotel. In 1911, Westinghouse was awarded by Edison Medal, by the American Association of Electrical Engineers. Edison invented the motion pictures with his Kinetograph and Kinetoscope. When he died the country dimmed its lights for one minute in his honor.
