First reviews have arrived for director Taika Waititi’s sci-fi adaptation Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams, with film critics largely concluding that the movie trades the quiet subtlety of Kazuo Ishiguro’s bestselling 2021 novel for overt sentimentality and uneven physical comedy. Adapted for the screen by Waititi and co-writer Dahvi Waller, the film centers on an Artificial Friend robot designed to ease human loneliness in a near-future society. While reviewers note moments of visual charm and earnest effort from Ortega, early assessments from major publications fault the production for tonal inconsistency that struggles to match the literary precision of its source material.
A Clash Between Literary Subtlety and Cinematic Whimsy
Ishiguro, a Nobel Prize laureate known for understated storytelling in works such as The Remains of the Day, An Artist of the Floating World, and Never Let Me Go, crafted the original 2021 novel around quiet, unspoken emotions and themes of memory, frailty, and trauma. Bringing that delicate first-person perspective to the screen proved challenging for Waititi, whose past credits include Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, and Jojo Rabbit.
Critics point to a recurring tension between Ishiguro’s restrained narrative and Waititi’s signature comedic sensibilities. According to The Seattle Times, the adaptation never quite finds the light touch that made earlier cinematic versions of Ishiguro's books succeed, resulting in a film that is "sweet and earnest" but often "cloying when it should be moving."
Other outlets delivered significantly harsher assessments of the tonal shift. The Hollywood Reporter called the project "indisputably the worst screen adaptation of a novel by Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro," arguing that Waititi and Waller "slather on the quirks" and trample genuine emotion with forced humor, set against a score by composer Michael Giacchino that leans heavily into whimsy. Similarly, the Guardian described the feature as a "sentimental mess" and "soft-centred sci-fi-lite" that fails to deliver a meaningful examination of artificial intelligence, love, or grief.
Inside the Post-Internet World of Artificial Friends
The narrative takes place in an altered future where, as noted by the Store Manager character, a recent third world war has wiped out the internet. In this landscape, families purchase humanoid "Artificial Friends" (AFs) to serve as companions for their children. Ortega portrays Klara, an older, solar-powered B1 model who sits in the window of The Friend Store hoping to be chosen by a customer, even as a competing shop across the street displays upgraded, Bluetooth-enabled B3 models.
Because she relies on solar energy, Klara views the sun as a benevolent guardian and worships it daily. The screenplay also introduces specific mechanical details to the lore, including the revelation that the AF humanoids have a purple fluid called PEC-9 running through them that is described as highly flammable.
While performing in the shop window, Klara catches the attention of 14-year-old Josie (Mia Tharia), a lonely teenager suffering from an unspecified illness. Josie has become a multidisciplinary prodigy after undergoing a surgical procedure known as "Lifting"—a Genetic Elevation Process designed to boost intelligence. Over the reluctance of her mother, Chrissie (spelled Chrissy in some production notes and played by Amy Adams), who hesitates to buy a superseded model, Josie insists on bringing Klara home. The Store Manager (Natasha Lyonne) ships Klara to the family's rural home surrounded by wheatfields and rolling hills, assuring the mother that the robot comes with a fully refundable trial period. Once there, Klara observes the sun setting behind a neighboring farm's barn and becomes convinced that the glowing orb sleeps inside the structure.
Cast Performances and Visual Execution
Despite broad criticism of the script, several aspects of the performances and technical craft drew measured praise. Reviewers highlighted the visual partnership between Waititi and cinematographer Michael Berlucchi. Whenever Klara enters an unfamiliar setting, the screen playfully pixelates to represent her vision scrambling and recalibrating, while scenes depicting her bond with the sun are bathed in warm, striking light.
On the acting front, Ortega—following high-profile roles in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and the television series Wednesday—draws mixed reactions for how her role is directed. The Seattle Times noted that Ortega plays the title character with a "sweet goofiness that’s quite charming," and that she clicks well alongside Tharia's Josie, even if the physical comedy overshadows the character's underlying vulnerability. Conversely, The Hollywood Reporter felt both Ortega and Adams were misused, noting that Ortega is tasked with milking physical comedy out of Klara's struggles to navigate stairs and outdoor terrain.
The supporting cast also reflects the movie's shifting registers. Adams brings a quiet thoughtfulness to her role as the protective, uptight mother, though critics noted the screenplay gives her limited material. Meanwhile, Lyonne’s brash, satirical performance as the Store Manager was cited by The Seattle Times as feeling as though it belonged in an entirely different movie, while Rachel House earns brief comedic notices from The Guardian as Melania, the family's hostile housekeeper who fears the new droid is meant to replace her.
What Viewers and Book Fans Should Expect
For readers of Ishiguro’s novel and moviegoers anticipating the collaboration between Waititi and Ortega, the early critical consensus sets clear expectations. Those hoping for the hushed, contemplative atmosphere of the 2021 book—or the restrained melancholy of 2010's Never Let Me Go—will find a much broader, quirk-driven interpretation on screen.
Viewers who appreciate Waititi’s stylized humor, visual inventiveness, and Ortega’s physical slapstick may still find endearing moments in Klara's earnest devotion to her human companion. However, fans of literary science fiction should prepare for an adaptation that prioritizes eccentric comedy and overt sentimentality over the quiet philosophical questions of its source material.
