‘Klara And The Sun’ Review: Taika Waititi’s Latest Is A Curiously Flat Dystopian Comedy-Drama – London Film Festival
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The added coverage reinforces a largely negative assessment of Taika Waititi’s film, describing it as a flat comedy-drama whose promised mix of humour, youth-focused storytelling and speculative science fiction does not come together. The review says the shift from the robot shop’s light, candy-coloured opening to a story of illness and grief leaves the film’s tone feeling awkward.
Jenna Ortega plays Klara, a B1 companion robot bought by Josie, a seriously ill teenager played by Mia Tharia, with Amy Adams as her mother, Chrissie. The film imagines a future where newer robot models are displacing older ones and the internet has vanished after a world war; Natasha Lyonne plays the robot shop manager, and Steve Buscemi a mysterious benefactor.
- The review finds Waititi’s adaptation tonally uneven.
- Klara is bought to accompany a seriously ill teenager.
- The story moves from robot-shop comedy towards grief.
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Klara is an artificial companion designed to keep someone company and offer support. In this story, teenager Josie chooses a B1 model, played by Jenna Ortega, while her mother Chrissie, played by Amy Adams, has additional reasons for buying one.
The setting is a future shaped by war and rapid changes in technology: the internet is gone, and newer robots are replacing older models. The story also features a robot shop manager, played by Natasha Lyonne, and a mysterious benefactor, played by Steve Buscemi.
The film adapts a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, whose story uses Klara’s place in a family to explore artificial life, illness and grief. Its mixture of comedy and serious themes is central to the review’s assessment of how well the film works.