‘Klara and the Sun’ Review: Jenna Ortega Fans, Look Away Respectfully

Klara and the sun is a disastrous film, even if on paper it was promising.

The source of the film is the popular science fiction novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Its content draws inspiration from the emerging conversation around artificial intelligence, as the titular Klara is an artificial friend, designed to be the ideal companion for a lonely teenager. In the lead role is rising star Jenna Ortega, who aims to show the diversity of her hardened Scream character and her monotonous dedication. Wednesday by playing a smiling robot scorned because he is “too empathetic”.

Famous actresses like Amy Adams and Natasha Lyonne joined her. And at the helm, Taika Waititi, who has already adapted Barry Crump’s book Wild Pork and Watercress in the beloved coming-of-age action comedy Drive people out of the wild. However, it’s been 10 years since Waititi gave audiences the seductively strange story of Ricky Baker’s “bad egg.”

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Since then, Waititi has received mixed reviews for Jojo Rabbit, its adaptation of Christine Leunens Caged Skies in which he introduces himself as Adolf Hitler. After the pleasure of Thor: Ragnarok came the error of Thor: Love and Thunder. And most recently, Waititi made an inspiring football documentary The next goal wins and turned it into a horrible sports comedy of the same name.

Starting from What we do in the shadows And In search of wild people has The next goal wins was a warning that Waititi had lost the spark that made him an exciting filmmaker. Klara and the sun confirms that the spark is gone.

What is Klara and the sun about?

Mia Tharia and Jenna Ortega star in “Klara and the Sun.”
Credit: CTMG, Inc.

After World War III and after the Internet, AI Friends is the essential accessory for any wealthy household. Among a group of older models, Klara is considered an oddity because she prays to the sun and stands “like a flamingo” with one leg raised. If someone doesn’t buy it soon, it will be sent back to the factory and scrapped for parts. So when a gloomy teenager named Josie (Mia Tharia) chooses her, Klara declares that she’s been saved from “certain doom.”

Far from the soot-covered town where the Artificial Friends store is located, Josie lives among the wheat fields in a large house over-decorated by her stuffy mother Chrissie (Amy Adams), who works tirelessly as an interior decorator. It’s a house full of things, but frozen in mourning. Years before, Josie’s older sister Sal died, and then her father left, leaving her and her mother staring at each other through years of failed connection. Immersed in this dynamic, Klara is a polarizing presence.

Josie is happy to have a friend who is dedicated to listening to her, since her mother is constantly criticizing or at work. For Chrissie, Klara is meant to be a baby monitor that can watch over Josie. But why does Josie need supervision? Well, neither Chrissie nor her fiercely protective servant Melania (Waititi’s recurring collaborator Rachel House) will explain that to Klara, even though the drugs are hooked up via IV and Josie begins experiencing violent seizures.

As Klara tried to calibrate her environment and do her best with Josie, she meets new friends, like Josie’s robot-curious crush Rick (Aran Murphy) and a robot scarecrow called Scarecrow (Jesse Griffin in a role coded by Rhys Darby). But above all, when in doubt, Klara speaks to the sun, convinced that it is a benevolent god who has the power to heal her sick human friend.

Klara and the sun is a film for no one.

Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams star in “Klara and the Sun.”
Credit: CTMG, Inc.

At first, the premise sounds like a children’s story, in which a childlike robot learns from the world, even if it is cruel. (See also Steven Spielberg’s book AI.) However, as the contemporary debate over AI intensifies, with parents concerned about the negative effect chatbots may have on their children’s mental health, Klara and the sun feels painfully dated, presenting Klara as a wholesome and sensitive servant, dedicated only to making her owner happy And healthy.

Beyond that, Waititi’s approach to Ishiguro’s novel is confusing. The first act takes place in the AF store where a kind manager (Natasha Lyonne) reads bedtime stories to her robots. Here, Klara seems eccentric in a Roald Dahl kind of way. Mathildewith sincere curiosity and courageous resilience. With simple diction and a hiking outfit reminiscent of Dora the ExplorerOrtega’s character seems suited to a children’s film. But soon Waititi’s script, co-written with Dahvi Waller, injects darker elements, including violence, blood, death, arson and suicide.

Of course, Tim Burton evoked these elements in scary movies and in Wednesday, for families to watch together. But I can’t imagine families being tempted to sit this way to Klara and the Sun. It’s not irreverently funny like Beetle juicefanciful like Edward Scissorhandsor have fun in the dark. It’s terrible, bland and nasty. Klara is repeatedly called “idiot,” while the humans around her are thinly-sketched scoundrels who lie, seethe, scream, and make selfish demands. Even the kind store manager is cruel, locking Klara in a dark closet, out of the sun, which, since she runs on solar energy, is tantamount to starving her.

In Mathilde, there is abundant cruelty around its eponymous heroine, but there is also a glimmer of hope in Miss Honey. Klara and the sun has no Miss Honey, only Josie, who is a caricature of an angsty, sometimes sarcastic, happy-go-lucky, sulky teenager. Tharia is resigned to brooding in silence as the plot unfolds around her. With such fragile roles, all the actors struggle. Lyonne is fun, but one note. Even six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams can’t bring depth to Waititi’s charmless film.

Klara and the sun is a story of faith without a soul.

Jenna Ortega and Natasha Lyonne star in “Klara and the Sun.”
Credit: CTMG, Inc.

In a world full of fears and pain, Klara looks at the sun without blinking. She prays, goes on a pilgrimage, and even offers a sacrifice in hopes that her god will answer her call to heal Josie. But Waititi’s vision shows no confidence in his beliefs. Sure, Ortega brings a bright smile to the role, but she seems detached in this awkwardly constructed world that doesn’t reflect her fantasy – even though the film is told from Klara’s point of view.

Waititi’s color palette is muted with a sickly yellow/green overcast tone, making the whole world reminiscent of the dark, genderless uniform that AFs wear when shopping. The costumes across the board are horrible. Josie dresses haphazardly, with nothing interesting to note. Adams is stuck in drab dresses that go against her curves and natural beauty, while Klara is ultimately dressed in an ’80s footballer look, complete with high-waisted jeans and an asymmetrical jersey. The fantasy that Ortega offers in his performance is swallowed up by such bland choices and ridiculed by a bob clumsily cut to resemble Temu Amélie.

Oddly, the most interesting fashion choices come in a sequence in the second act where Josie meets her future classmates. All rich, titular, and vicious, these teens are all dressed in garish textures, bright colors, and/or outrageous silhouettes meant to suggest that they are rich and shallow. A curious choice from a filmmaker who attended the Met Gala.

Otherwise, Michael Giacchino’s score is cloyingly sentimental, desperately signaling to the audience that a scene is supposed to be moving when even on the page it was supposed to be flat. For example, Waititi and Waller hinted that Josie might be jealous of Klara. But rather than a stirring conflict scene, they dodge it twice, including a disturbing reveal sequence that should hit harder.

Simply put, Waititi completely fails to adapt this book into a compelling film. Its storyline is childish and laborious. Its visual storytelling is dull and confusing. Its protagonist engages in physical comedy and a taboo subject to show her range. But Waititi’s direction makes Ortega look like she’s auditioning for a Disney Channel TV movie from the early ’90s.

The best Ortega fans can do for her is politely look away and forget Klara and the sun never happened.

Klara and the sun hits theaters on October 23.