“Klara and the Sun” (2026) adapts Kazuo Ishigueo’s 2021 novel and is director and cowriter Taika Waititi’s latest film with Canadian cowriter Dahvi Waller, who normally writes for television series, in Waller’s feature debut. They tell the story through the eyes of a discontinued artificial friend, Klara (Jenna Ortega), who prays to the Sun and hopes that a human being will take her home after seeing her in the shop window. Josie (Mia Tharia) is that human being despite her mother, interior designer Chrissy (Amy Adams), vocally opposing her decision. Housekeeper Melania (Rachel House, an underutilized Waititi staple) is itching to return Klara back. Will Klara eventually win them over? It is not Waititi’s worst, but it is so far from his best that it may be judged harsher than warranted though his mawkish creative choices likely lose something in translation from page to screen.
I grade on a curve, so I have liked Waititi’s lesser films, but there is an undeniable drop off. Very few critics wanted to see it, and even those who did such as myself, had to drag ourselves there to do it. Here is my ranking from best to worst: “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” (2016), “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017), “Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022), “What We Do in the Shadows” (2014), “Next Goal Wins” (2023), “Belvedere Vodka” (2022) starring Daniel Craig, who is sexy as hell, but no Christopher Walken in Spike Jonze’s “Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice” (2001), and last and least “Jojo Rabbit” (2019), the beginning of the huge aforementioned dropoff. Ever since someone touted the theory that his movies have not been the same since a certain personal event in 2018 that had a ripple effect in the cinematic world, the timeline correlates. I would stick “Klara and the Sun” in between 2014 and 2023 movies. He leans heavily on the idea of her and other outdated models having the wide-eyed innocence of a toddler with adult consequences. He does not dwell on the dystopian elements though he alludes to societal issues such as these robots being slaves and the casual cruelty of the elites who dehumanize anyone who does not meet their standards, but he does not dwell on it. It feels as if he has lost his nerve, and he arranges for his characters to say harsh truths as sweetly and quickly as possible to keep with the fairy tale tone of the film.
Waititi and Waller (W2) are more interested in religion and Klara’s relationship to the Sun, which based on the title, is a fair point. She believes that the Sun lives in a barn and goes to the barn like a church. Waititi and cinematographer Mike Berlucchi bathe these scenes in sunlight and also add a special glow to show the loving bond between two people (not more, not less). Cootings Machines are the devil because they belch smoke and hide the Sun. Waititi shows the movie goer the way that Klara sees the world, so she remains sympathetic, but like all the human characters in “Klara and the Sun,” moviegoers know that it is not true. Potentially W2 may have been trying to convey the danger and benefit of religion or any misguided belief such as getting a leg up on the population to better your kid. It is dangerous if unchecked and not corrected, but also a sign of hope and love. Is that clear from watching the movie? Nope. The tone shift in the denouement is too dramatic, and if that concept had been threaded consistently throughout the story, it could have elevated this film to an exponential degree. Since W2 already take liberties from the book, it would have been more of a provocative idea for Klara to have a crisis of faith and wonder if the Cootings Machine was God on Earth. It would be a close tie to God appearing on Mount Sinai and scaring the crap out of the faithful and unfaithful alike. Missed opportunity!
Instead, Waititi is more interested in Klara’s experiences and helping the audience see though her eyes, which recalibrate whenever she has a new ocular experience. Waititi depicts this recalibration in an arresting way. Instead of pixels, tiles click into place like a puzzle then become clear and show a complete picture like solving it. Eventually, it is overdone. Oh, the wonder to be alive and see something anew, repeatedly. The friendship between Klara and Josie starts strong, but a one-sided conflict seems shoehorned in and kneecaps the foundation of the premise in exchange for winning Chrissie over. Tharia and Ortega have great chemistry, but Tharia eventually gets a thankless job of being listless and sidelined so “Klara and the Sun” is guilty of what Josie accuses her mother of doing. It is a big pet peeve when anyone fails to model the opposite of what it criticizes.
To be fair, who would not want to spend more time with Chrissie. Costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo outfits Adams in stunning piece after stunning piece. Production designer Ra Vincent (no known relation) makes it credible that Chrissy is an interior designer because the inside of the family home will make you want to move right in. If the house in “Klara and the Sun” is real, then the location team are the MVPs because that house felt like its own character. Adams is such a powerful presence that she easily eclipses Tharia and Ortega’s performances. Not using special effects but physically nailing impressions of her fellow actors playing their characters makes Ortega rival James McAvoy if she also had to do the voices too, and the cast was larger. The fact that Ortega’s face did not crack while having to smile and exhibit a childlike demeanor deserves a medal. If it was exhausting to experience, it must have been enervating to play. Waititi was too judicious in the way that he only allowed Ortega to exhibit more complex behavior too close to the denouement during a party with children like Josie.
Rick (Aran Murphy), Josie’s only human friend and next-door neighbor, is present at this party, but being naturally gifted neither exempt him nor Klara from ridicule. Rick is an inconsistently used character who functions in whatever way is needed to move the plot forward. He is transportation until he is not, a repairman, a bullied kid, a point of tension, but never someone’s child. He becomes the reason for a pulled punch in the end that only works because W2 are not above leaning heavily on the sick kid theme to tug on heartstrings until the bitter end and the fantasy that at the end, people will care to fulfill your final wish. This is the nicest dystopia ever.
If “Klara and the Sun” works, it is because the actors and the visuals hit the poignant notes hard, but in the shallowest way that never trusts the audience. W2 make the ending more ambiguous than the book using a common lived experience of loss. Thanks to coeditors Tom Eagles and Adam Gough, the movie nails being in a spot and seeing the past and present juxtaposed next to each other. It is a perfect representation of grief. This movie is worthy of matinee or Tuesday prices, folks. Will Natasha Lyonne’s recent online explosion hurt the box office numbers further?
