Director Taika Waititi’s sci-fi adaptation Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams, is opening in U.S. theaters on October 23, 2026, to predominantly negative critical reviews. Following its debut at the London Film Festival, reviewers from major publications have faulted the movie's overly sentimental tone, broad physical comedy, and mismatch with Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 source novel. While critics largely dismiss Waititi's directorial approach as cloying and programmatic, assessments of Ortega’s lead performance as a solar-powered humanoid companion remain divided.

Co-written by Waititi and Dahvi Waller, the film is set in a post-World War III, post-internet future where wealthy families purchase Artificial Friends (AFs) for their teenagers. Ortega portrays Klara, an outdated B1 model waiting in a shop managed by Natasha Lyonne’s character, hoping to be bought before she is scrapped for parts. Klara is eventually chosen by Josie (Mia Tharia), an ailing, genetically "lifted" teenager who lives in a remote house amid wheat fields with her mourning mother, Chrissie (Adams), and a protective housekeeper, Melania (Rachel House). Having already lost her older daughter Sal and endured her husband's departure, Chrissie treats Klara with skepticism as the android attempts to navigate human grief and family trauma.

A Clash Between Literary Subtlety and Broad Whimsy

The primary grievance among film critics centers on the collision between Ishiguro’s quiet, melancholic storytelling and Waititi’s signature quirkiness. According to Variety, the adaptation represents a "hopeless mismatch of filmmaker and source material," resulting in a "twee, pulseless fantasy" that is "pitched too juvenile for adults, and way too dull for children." The outlet contrasted the film unfavorably with Mark Romanek’s 2010 adaptation of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, noting that Waititi's comedic affectations fight the stoic sadness of the book at every turn.

Other major trade publications echoed this assessment. The Hollywood Reporter labeled the feature "indisputably the worst screen adaptation of a novel by Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro," arguing that Waititi and Waller overwrite the author's subtle themes of memory and trauma with charmless quirks and forced humor. Similarly, Mashable called the film a "disaster," suggesting that after the mixed reception of 2019's Jojo Rabbit—which grossed nearly $100 million—and the poorly received Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins, Klara and the Sun confirms that Waititi's creative spark is gone.

Multiple reviewers singled out composer Michael Giacchino’s score as an early indicator of the film's tonal problems. According to the Los Angeles Times, the "syrupy strings, treacly piano and awed choral vocals" establish an atmosphere of emotional manipulation and "calculated gooeyness" before the story even addresses its darker themes. Not all outlets dismissed the film's emotional aims entirely; while Variety and the Daily Herald criticized the movie's jarring shifts between cloying sentiment and broad satire, The New York Times was comparatively more attentive to the film's effort to explore emotional nuance.

Divided Perspectives on Jenna Ortega's Performance

For Jenna Ortega, the role of a smiling, overly empathetic robot marks a deliberate pivot from her monotone portrayal of Wednesday Addams and her hardened appearances in the Scream franchise. However, critics disagree on whether her turn salvages the material or falls victim to the script's comedic demands.

According to The A.V. Club, Ortega’s sunny expressiveness is difficult to resist, even as the broader film burdens itself with too many unresolved storylines involving class, illness, sacrifice, and artificial consciousness. Conversely, The Hollywood Reporter contended that both Ortega and co-star Amy Adams are severely misused, noting that Ortega is forced to "milk physical comedy out of lame tech humor" as Klara struggles to navigate stairs and recalibrate her vision outdoors. In a 2-out-of-4-star review, the Daily Herald praised the film's visual effects and called Ortega charming, but agreed that her performance relies too heavily on slapstick rather than capturing Klara’s underlying vulnerability.

Why Ishiguro and Waititi Defend the Changes

Despite the harsh critical consensus regarding the adaptation's deviations from the text, Ishiguro—who serves as an executive producer on the project—has publicly supported Waititi's departures from the source material. Speaking alongside the director in an interview with the Guardian, Ishiguro argued that the worst literary adaptations are those that remain too faithful to the page.

"Sometimes it’s not just loyalty but laziness," Ishiguro told the Guardian. "You can’t just have the text there in front of you. You need to use your imagination to move it on." Waititi echoed the sentiment during the conversation, comparing a strict book-to-screen translation to recording a cover song with the exact same instrumentation. While the Guardian noted that Waititi adds "sugar and caffeine, pratfalls and one-liners"—including a sequence where Klara misreads social cues and steers the family car off the road—the outlet also observed a generational divide at the London Film Festival, where young influencers praised the movie as funny and moving even as older critics rejected it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do critics object to Jenna Ortega’s performance itself, or the direction she was given?

Most reviewers credit Ortega’s screen presence and commitment, with outlets like The A.V. Club and the Daily Herald highlighting her charm and expressiveness. The criticism is primarily directed at Waititi’s script and direction, which require Ortega to perform broad physical comedy and tech-related slapstick rather than focusing on the quiet vulnerability of the character.

How does the film's tone compare to Kazuo Ishiguro's novel?

While Ishiguro’s 2021 novel is widely described by critics as a spare, melancholic, and quiet study of grief and artificial consciousness, Waititi’s adaptation approaches the story as a tragicomic sci-fi fairy tale. Critics note that the movie introduces broad humor, satirical elements, and an overtly sentimental musical score that clash with the subdued nature of the book.

How might audience reception differ from the critical reviews?

While traditional film critics have largely panned the movie's sentimentality and comedic detours, early anecdotal reactions from the London Film Festival reported by the Guardian suggest that younger viewers and fans of Ortega may respond more positively to the film's blend of humor and emotion as it begins its U.S. theatrical run.

Sources