Waititi's 'Klara and the Sun' Called a Sentimental Sci-Fi Mess — SkimNews
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- Taika Waititi directed 'Klara and the Sun,' an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, which the reviewer calls 'unbearably mannered, unspeakably acted' and a 'sentimental mess' that says nothing substantial about AI, love, or grief.
- Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, a solar-powered 'artificial friend' (AF) robot — described as a 'manic pixie dream robot — only nice' — who worships the sun as a god.
- Mia Tharia plays Josie, a 14-year-old surgically 'lifted' into a super-IQ class who is lonely and suffering from an unspecified illness, with Amy Adams as her uptight mother and Rachel House as housekeeper Melania.
- The film is set in a post-WW3 world where the internet was wiped out, and AF robots have purple 'blood' called PEC-9 that a character notes is 'highly flammable' — a design flaw the reviewer flags with a pointed 'Uh-oh.'
- Kogonada's 'After Yang,' an AI-child-robot parable, is cited as 'a more interesting and persuasive movie' on similar themes, while Kore-eda's 'Sheep in the Box' is also named as a failed comparison.
- The reviewer notes Waititi previously proved his comedy bona fides with 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' and 'Thor: Ragnarok,' but places this film closer to the misjudged 'Jojo Rabbit.'
- The film ends with a 'twist ending that is as unsatisfying and contrived as everything that has gone before.'
Why it matters: A high-profile adaptation of a Nobel laureate's novel from a director with proven blockbuster comedy credentials lands as a critical miss, and the reviewer explicitly positions it below Kogonada's 'After Yang' as the more compelling recent AI-child-robot film — a direct competitive framing for viewers choosing between the two.
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