Taika Waititi’s new movie, Klara and the Sun, was released this week. An adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Klara and the Sun, the story is a meditation on love and humanity through the eyes of Klara, an ‘Artificial Friend’, set in an isolated dystopian future.

Synopsis –

Based on the bestselling novel from Nobel Prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro and written and directed by Academy-Award® winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), Klara and the Sun introduces audiences to Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend who wants nothing more than to find the perfect home. When Klara meets Josie (Mia Tharia), each immediately senses a kindred spirit in the other. Josie has a fraught relationship with her mother (Amy Adams) and they’ve suffered great loss, but Klara’s innocent wonder and unwavering loyalty begin to heal the family and bring light to Josie’s complicated world.

The dystopian setting of the novel is not readily apparent in the trailer, and we were a bit dubious about how Waititi’s particular brand of whimsy will mesh with the source material. He did a great job of combining humour and pathos in 2019’s Jojo Rabbit, but his last major project was the much maligned Thor: Love and Thunder, which was categorised much more by its puerile humour, and was guilty of minimising the involvement of its most interesting character, Gorr the God Butcher.

Unfortunately, critical reaction to Klara and the Sun has not been very good, with the movie currently sitting at a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have said that any chance to say something insightful or profound is undercut at every turn by Waititi’s propensity for wacky, off-beat humour. Only time will tell if audiences will feel the same way, and if you’re not a fan of the introspection of the oriignal novel, maybe you’ll find the change in tone of Waititi’s adaptation refreshing.

Klara and the Sun was released in theatres globally today, by Sony Pictures Releasing. You can check out the trailer below.