Look, I love a chaotic director, but Taika Waititi’s latest project, Klara and the Sun, is lowkey a disaster. The film, which hits theaters on October 23, tries to turn Kazuo Ishiguro’s deeply existential, heartbreaking novel into some kind of quirky comedy. Honestly? The vibes are off. The source material is a delicate, somber story about an 'Artificial Friend' (AF) navigating a dystopian future, but Waititi decided to lean into 'whimsical' and 'precious' energy instead.
The plot
Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, an AI robot waiting to be purchased by an isolated kid in a post-war world where the internet is essentially dead. She eventually gets picked up by a teen named Josie, played by Mia Tharia. Josie’s mother, Chrissy (the icon Amy Adams), is stuck in a high-strung, uptight role, and the whole family dynamic at their farmhouse is giving 'dysfunctional nightmare.'
Why it missed the mark
There’s supposed to be a heavy emotional core here—Josie has a life-threatening illness, and Klara’s role is way more serious than it seems. But the movie tries to balance that with 'fish-out-of-water' comedy that just doesn’t land. It feels like the director tried to copy the 'child-like wonder' style he used in Jojo Rabbit without realizing that this story actually needed room to breathe. Ortega is doing some heavy lifting trying to make the character feel real, but the script is holding her back. It’s a huge L for a story that deserved better, and honestly, it’s giving major 'ChatGPT-generated' energy.
Why it matters
When a visionary author like Ishiguro has his work adapted, fans expect a certain level of depth. By trying to force a quirky, comedic tone onto a story about the fragility of human existence and the nature of consciousness, the film completely loses the point of the book. It’s a classic case of a filmmaker and source material that just were not meant to be.
