Mixed opinions circulate on Taika Waititi’s new film Klara and the Sun
The new movie adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Klara and the Sun has received numerous negative critic reviews, prompting a strong response from director Taika Waititi, who called the critics “sad lost souls” in a social media post on Oct. 31. However, critics and audiences appear to be divided over the film. Klara and the Sun currently holds a 26 per cent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, in contrast with a 74 per cent audience score.
The movie stars actress Jenna Ortega as a robot named Klara, who is chosen to live with a family in a futuristic society where parents buy Artificial Friends (AFs) as companions for their children. Amy Adams plays the mother of teenaged Josie (Mia Tharia), whose human heart Klara observes and attempts to understand.
The Los Angeles Times described the movie as overly sentimental, saying in a review that Klara and the Sun “keeps insisting we feel things when the storytelling hasn’t earned our tears or despair.”
Contrasting audience reviews describe beautiful cinematography and a compelling performance by Ortega. “Lessons in life, grief, death, as well as the dangers of genetic enhancement are covered in an exquisitely screened way,” Steve L. wrote on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ishiguro’s novel, published in 2021, was well received by readers. The Nobel Prize laureate is known for rich explorations of loneliness, connection, and the things that give us humanity.
“[Klara] is a philosopher for our own chaotic moment, when our lives seem less real, more vulnerable, and more reliant on technology than ever,” Hamilton Cain in a Harvard Review of the novel.
A Vanity Fair article lists the differences between the book and film versions of Klara and the Sun, citing a divide between Ishiguro’s contemplative Klara and the character in the movie, who “conveys the broad, plucky winsomeness of a YA heroine.” Differences in relationships between characters, as well as the much brighter ending to the film in comparison to the novel, were also pointed out.
According to NPR, Ishiguro chose Waititi to adapt his book for his signature “wacky and surreal approach.” Waititi is known for projects such as Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit, the latter of which was also based on a novel, and won an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
Some viewers have approached the adaptation as a commentary on artificial intelligence. “It’s just interesting to see an [artificial intelligence (AI)] capable of love,” Grace F. wrote in a review on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Waititi cautioned against this perspective. “It was like three years ago when we shot this,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “That whole [AI] thing has taken off since then.”
Whether Klara and the Sun succeeds at being a faithful adaptation or not (or whether it is even meant to be), and whether its depictions of a human-robot connection lend themselves to a conversation about AI’s increasing presence, appear to be up to viewers. The conflicting opinions ponder whether the film is pleasantly warm, as per many audience members, or far too sunny, as per the critics.