Klara and the Sun draws on the artistic talents of two people I never expected to be in the same orbit.  Kazuo Ishiguro is a 71-year-old Japanese author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.  His novels include The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, both which have been transformed for cinema.  Taika Waititi is a 51-year-old New Zealand filmmaker who won a screenwriting Oscar in 2020 for Jojo Rabbit.  I’m a big fan of his early work with an emphasis on Boy and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Movies about friendly robots are not new.  From R2-D2 and C-3PO in the Star Wars franchise, through to an unseen romantic partner in Spike Jonze’s Academy Award winning Her, writers have continually found new angles to pursue.  The topic feels as relevant as ever.  While we don’t yet have robots walking city streets, artificial intelligence has taken massive leaps over the past few years.  It’s front of mind for many – positively and negatively.

Klara and the Sun opens with a mother (Adams) reluctantly buying an “artificial friend” for her teenage daughter, Josie (Tharia).  The robot’s name is Klara (Ortega) and while mum would have preferred to buy a newer model, the pair gelled and they soon become close companions.  It’s not delved into with much depth, but there are other curious elements to this futuristic world including the lack of internet, and heightened abilities for those studying in special schools.

I’ve not read Ishiguro’s 2021 novel, which has been adapted by Waititi and co-writer Dahvi Waller (Mad Men), but it’s evident that something has been lost in translation.  Klara is a goofy robot who is either incredibly perceptive or remarkably naïve.  I can see audiences falling in love with her silliness, but I found her antics to be tiring.  Did we really need all the repetitive guff about her “takes a little time” depth perception, and her fear of the sun-blocking farm tractor?

A bigger weakness is the mother and daughter tale – two characters who feel underdeveloped.  We needed more of them and less of Klara!  The film explains the family’s dark history but there’s not much to their respective arcs as they continually mope around the home feeling sorry for themselves with minimal interaction.  For example, why is Josie such a loner?  Could we explore that more, perhaps?  The script throws up a curveball in the final act but it’s as unconvincing as the material which precedes it.

Struggling to generate any kind of authentic emotion, Klara and the Sun misses the mark.