Set in a post-Third World War climate, “Klara and the Sun” follows Klara (Jenna Ortega), a quirky, somewhat disjointed “Artificial Friend” with a fascination for the sun—which she believes to hold extraordinary, God-like healing powers—and a unique perspective on human connection, “The Coffee Cup Man and the Umbrella Lady had two cups of coffee, then they squeezed each other, and… everything glowed. Is that what love is?”
Taika Waititi’s on-screen adaption of Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun” is unmistakably a Waititi film. The “Boy” (2010) and “Jojo Rabbit” (2019) director is known for blending absurdist humour with moments of profound emotional depth, and “Klara and the Sun” is no exception.
Much of the film’s emotional weight lands on Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of Klara, and it’s refreshing to see the “Wednesday” (2022) and “Scream” (2022-2023) actress in a more childlike, bubbly role. “Klara and the Sun” has proven Ortega’s versatility as an actress, and I’m keen to see more of her in this genre.
A World Bathed in Sunlight
Aesthetically speaking, “Klara and the Sun” is a marvel to watch. The film is very bright, and Waititi doesn’t shy away from using a vibrant, high-contrast colour palette. The film also utilises a golden-toned wash, adding to the overarching symbolic presence of the sun.
My favourite scenes were those featuring a wide-shot of Klara against the vast, open wheat fields and mountains surrounding the family home. Waititi utilises visual comedy to show us that Klara doesn’t entirely fit into this world as she stumbles her way through the films beautiful landscapes.
Love, Loss, and the Human Condition
The story begins when Klara meets, and is purchased by, 14-year-old Josie (Mia Tharia) and her workaholic mother, Chrissy (Amy Adams). An emotionally fractured pair, Chrissy and Josie are trying to navigate life after the tragic loss of Josie’s sister, Sal (Sophia Bryant-Taukiri). Soon after Klara is brought home, we learn of another tragedy looming over her new family: Josie is dying after a botched, genetically-enhancing procedure known as “lifting”. Once Klara learns of this, her devotion to Josie—and newly, her shiny boyfriend, Rick (Aran Murphy)—turns into an unwavering determination to save her.
Klara makes a deal with the sun.
Promising to protect the sun’s “home”—an abandoned, hill-top farmhouse—from the pollutive “Cootings Machine”, Klara pleads, “I know the answers are out there. Please show me the way to heal this family and save us all from darkness and certain doom.”
However Chrissy, having already experienced the loss of Sal, is terrified at the prospect of losing Josie, particularly to an illness she herself has played a hand in causing. The extent of Chrissy’s desperation becomes apparent when we learn that she has commissioned an artificial replica of both Sal and Josie from businessman Mr. Capaldi (Steve Buscemi), with the intention to use Klara’s ability to imitate her as a means of preserving her daughter.
Chrissy is neither portrayed as wholly sympathetic nor entirely unsympathetic. Rather, “Klara and the Sun” makes it profoundly clear that Chrissy is a grieving mother who is—to the best of her ability—doing what she believes is right by both herself and Josie. Amy Adams’ performance asks us an uncomfortable but important question: when does the need to memorialise someone turn into the inability to let them go?
Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Imitation
Perhaps most unsettling, however, is the suggestion that humans are ultimately replaceable: a sentiment seemingly shared by Josie herself when she tells Klara, “I want you to do it.” Ironically, it’s Klara—the very “Artificial Friend” intended to replace Josie—who is first to recognise that humans cannot be replaced, refusing Josie’s request. Whilst Josie’s fate is left ambiguous, Klara later reflects that, “There was something very special, but it wasn’t inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her.”
This idea is particularly pertinent in an age increasingly defined by Artificial Intelligence. Going into “Klara and the Sun”, I was cautious that the film would turn out to be, effectively, a two-and-a-half hour long ChatGPT product placement, but it was quite the opposite.
Whilst modern technology becomes increasingly adept at replicating human behaviour, Waititi’s “Klara and the Sun” reminds us that imitation is not understanding, and that the real human experience is found in loving, even in the face of loss.
