Klara and the Sun: Movie Review

Cast: Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Natasha Lyonne, Mia Thiara
Director: Taika Waititi

It's easy to see what would draw a director like Taika Waititi to make and adapt a film like Klara and The Sun.

Given its childlike innocence, naivete and vein of tragedy within, it has a lot in keeping with the elements of Boy and Hunt For The Wilderprople where odd quirky edges hide deep heartache and issues with the human condition.

But the problem here is the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's book, is that the film never once gives any real depth to its heftier themes, despite a third act that shows so much promise when the darkness creeps in and hints at what the film really could have been, if it had been swathed in more melancholy.

Jenna Ortega is artificial friend Klara, a robot companion that's looking for an owner. Swamped by newer models, she and her kin are forced to stand in shop windows by their owner (Natasha Lyonne) to try and attract a mate. But ignored due to newer models, Klara faces a bleak future until she's discovered by Josie (Thiara, largely brilliant until the third act sidelines her) and taken home.

Once back at Josie's country house, where only her icy mother (Adams, thin-lipped and distant) and housekeeper (Rachel House, once again deploying her familiar schtick as a brusque individual with a heart) live, Klara discovers all is not as it seems as she tries to bond with Josie and find her true happiness.

At the start, Klara and the Sun has a goofy appeal as Ortega's sweetly charming wide-eyed robot tries to fit in. Like a child with nothing imprinted on her yet, Klara has an innocence that the film mines for comedic effect, but soon the whimsy grows tiring as the house of cards is built on little else.

While the rejoinder to the cynicism is perhaps welcome early on, it soon becomes clear that Klara and The Sun has little idea of what it wants to do other than tell a seemingly happy story with a sad heart to it, something Waititi has largely made his oeuvre out of. 

But by dabbling in bits of sci-fi, elements of family drama and melodramatic edges, the film rarely delves deeply into any of them, proving to be a shallow and frustrating experience than frustrates rather than thrills.

Pitching juvenile and not quite adult enough for its themes, Klara and the Sun's highlights remain with its core cast members. 

Ortega has enough to carry the film and imbues Klara with a joy that's initially hard to deny and as Josie, Thiara shows depth beyond her young years, mining the tragedy of her character and the frailty of her situation. However, the third act sidelines her and her missing presence is deeply felt.

Perhaps the biggest frustration with Klara and the Sun is how little of Waititi there appears to be on show here, crafting a film that feels inert and lifeless when it's the perfect kind of story for his back catalogue. 

But on this showing, perhaps the sun needs to set a little on his ambitions and he can go back to basics.