Klara and the Sun Review: Waititi's Sentimental Sci-Fi Mess — SkimNews
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- Taika Waititi directs the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, starring Jenna Ortega as Klara, a solar-powered "artificial friend" robot who worships the sun as a god in a post-WW3 world
- The Guardian review calls the film "unbearably mannered" and an "unspeakably acted" sentimental mess, saying it says "nothing substantial" about AI, love, or grief
- Jenna Ortega plays Klara alongside Amy Adams as Josie's uptight mother and Rachel House as grumpy housekeeper Melania in a world where families purchase AF humanoids for their children
- Klara is taken in by lonely 14-year-old Josie (Mia Tharia), a prodigy slated for an IQ-boosting surgical "lift," with Klara's solar dependency presented as analogous to human vulnerability
- The reviewer favorably contrasts the film to Kogonada's "After Yang" as a more interesting AI-child-robot parable, while noting Waititi's prior comedy bona fides with "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" and "Thor: Ragnarok"
- Cross-coverage consensus: the Deadline headline frames the film as "curiously flat," aligning with the dominant critical assessment that despite its dystopian premise, the adaptation lacks substance
Why it matters: A widely negative reception for an adaptation of a Nobel laureate's novel by a director known for crowd-pleasing comedy represents a notable creative misfire, with the reviewer explicitly ranking it below Kogonada's "After Yang" on the bar for AI-themed parables. The film is positioned as closer to Waititi's notorious misfire "Jojo Rabbit" than his comedy successes.
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