Taika Waititi's Klara and the Sun: android character moves audiences despite
Jenna Ortega gives a warm performance as an android. Her acting carries Taika Waititi's over-the-top film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's quiet novel.
Taika Waititi adapted Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel Klara and the Sun into a film. The film shows an android learning to feel human emotion.
Jenna Ortega plays Klara, an artificial companion bought by a lonely teenager in a vague post-war future. Waititi's direction leans toward exaggerated comedy, opposite to Ishiguro's quiet style.
But Ortega's performance brings real warmth. The screenplay by Waititi and Dahvi Waller keeps the plot simple and adds typical corny jokes.
The film lingers on simple, moving moments between the android and her human companion. The visual style relies heavily on lens flare and pixelated images to show Klara's view.
- Kazuo Ishiguro, 2021
- Source novel
- Jenna Ortega as Klara
- Lead actor
- Taika Waititi and Dahvi Waller
- Screenwriters
- Post-World War III future
- Setting
Why it mattersThe film tests whether a stylish, over-decorated adaptation can still move audiences through acting alone. It offers an interesting clash of different styles.
AustraliaAustralian cinemagoers can now see Klara and the Sun if drawn to Waititi's direction, Ortega's performance, or Ishiguro's source material; the film is available this week.
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