A quirky, if messy, tale of friendship: 'Klara and The Sun' review

As a massive fan of Taika Waititi, I was really looking forward to Klara and The Sun. Despite the mixed reaction to him as a filmmaker, I often find myself defending the work he’s done after his mainstream breakthrough from working with Marvel. Jojo Rabbit was fantastic, and Next Goal Wins was a flawed but charming sports comedy that got way too much flack. There is no denying that Thor: Love & Thunder was a misfire, and he has been stretching himself way too thin with too many different projects and acting performances. Perhaps as a result of this, Klara and The Sun is the first film he’s directed where he makes no appearance at all. 

Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel from 2021, the film follows Jenna Ortega as Klara, an android designed to be a human’s artificial friend. After she is finally bought by a girl named Josie, despite the disapproval of her mother played by Amy Adams, Klara tries her best to fit in but soon realises there is more going on with Josie than meets the eye.

As to be expected from Waititi, this has a really quirky feel and look to it. His signature offbeat humour is on display, but it’s done in a more gentle way that fits with the film’s tone. Ortega is great in the lead role, but the real star is Mia Tharia as Josie. She’s previously appeared in September Says, but hopefully this further raises her profile, as she gives a really human and emotive performance that stands out amongst the film’s quirkiness. 

Amy Adams feels a little miscast, as the film never knows whether it wants her character to be sympathetic or nasty, but it’s great to see Waititi’s regular collaborator Rachel House in the role of the angry and bitter housemaid. 

Compared to Next Goal Wins, this is far more ambitious territory for Waititi once again. Juggling a dystopian sci-fi setting with a chirpy atmosphere and emotional weight is a tall order, and this is where the film comes a cropper. Klara and The Sun has been receiving some harsh feedback and, while I don’t agree with that personally, this is not the great comeback for Waititi that I was hoping for. The film has a lot to do and, as a result of that, the pacing suffers, going either way too fast or not fast enough. 

There’s even more that was apparently left on the cutting room floor. A role for Waititi and scenes featuring Simon Baker as Josie’s father were all filmed but didn’t make it to the final cut. The knowledge of this, plus the fact that the film was shot way back in early 2024, lead me to think that there were substantial issues in post-production that have left the film feeling like the hodgepodge that it is. 

As well as pacing issues, there are a lot of deeper and darker story elements that don’t have enough time to breathe when the film is focused on the relationship between Klara and Josie. Steve Buscemi is criminally underused in the role of a mysterious benefactor helping Josie and her mother, and there’s several moments of social satire that the film can’t quite make fit in seamlessly.

It’s unfortunately a little bit of a mess and, at almost two hours, it’s too long for what it needs to be. Still, there is a lot to like here. Most of the cast are great, the film has a fantastic, bright, Tim Burton-esque look to it and the friendship between Josie and Klara is the emotional anchor of the film. Despite the unfocused screenplay, the core elements of Waititi’s style are as good as ever, so I’d recommend this if you even remotely like his style. Hunt For the Wilderpeople is still his best work for me and while this is some distance away from that, there’s still enough cool elements and a sweet central friendship that makes it worth a watch.