'Klara and the Sun' Review: Taika Waititi Squanders a Thought-Provoking Premise
By Alex Gilston - October 19, 2026
The subject of the AI counterpart has a storied cinematic history. With the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, Her, Wall-E, and After Yang, films have long been pondering what having AI companions, or enemies, might look like. In Taika Waititi’s newest film Klara and the Sun "Artificial Friends" exist, and Josie (Mia Tharia) chooses a model to keep her company in the house she lives in with her Mum and their housekeeper. But like a lot of Waititi’s more recent work there is something at-arms-length about Klara and the Sun emotionally, that leaves it feeling flat.
What is Klara and the Sun about?
Klara (Jenna Ortega) is an AF, or Artificial Friend, a robot powered by solar power and designed to mould their personality around their prospective companion. She is in a dingy shop on the high street with other AFs, she’s been there for a while due to her quirks like standing on one foot, and worshipping the sun. So she finds that it’s her last chance to be sold before she is sent off and melted for her parts. Her prayers are answered when Josie comes into the shop and decides Klara is the one. When Klara unintentionally finds out that Josie is really sick, she sets out on a mission to save her new friend.
Klara and the Sun sets off on the right foot. There is some interesting world building, with the introduction of the different models of Artificial Friends, learning about corporations that pollute the city, and how some children are offered a procedure called lifting that makes them super smart. The foundations are all there to spring off into interesting places and yet Waititi’s film never gets there. Instead the emotion is spread thin, making way for the directors’ usual quirks. He becomes more bothered with where he can sneak in a moment that will garner a laugh.
Those same interesting foundations in Klara and the Sun become overwrought, and grating. The strange aspects of Klara’s personality start off charming, but they reoccur to a level that makes it annoying. The dark pollution reoccurs but beyond the image it doesn’t investigate it much further. We do see other lifted children but they all have surface level roles and are reduced to simple caricature bullies. On paper all of these things have potential but Waititi sticks to his worst weird instincts. When you’re constantly having that thrown at you it is hard to find the connection to the film that Klara and Josie find within each other.
The only character that benefits from a bit of Taika Waititi’s capable depth is Amy Adams’ Chrissie. Josie’s mum is crippled by the grief of losing her youngest daughter, and goes to extreme lengths to put those feelings at bay. She hates Klara at the beginning but their relationship is more promising than any of the other ones in the film. She has ulterior motives that Klara is too naïve to notice. Her actions in the narrative are easily justified by herself even if it comes at a cost to her relationship with Josie. Adams brings a heaviness to Chrissie that unlocks some much needed empathy in Klara and the Sun.
In theory, Klara and the Sun has all the ingredients to make a film that explores artificial intelligence, what the future holds for our children, and how grief can change us as people and how that fits into an ever changing technological world. But Taika Waititi is ill-fitted for the job. He is capable of drawing out gut punches of emotion, you only have to look at his 2019 film Jojo Rabbit and a certain pair of shoes, but he falls foul to his worst habits. In doing so Klara and the Sun never dives deeper than the surface rendering it dead on arrival.
'Klara and the Sun' releases in cinemas on October 23, 2026.
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Alex Gilston
Senior Writer
Alex is a film critic, and self confessed Disney expert. His passion for film is huge, so to be able to write and talk about them is a personal dream of his.
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