Review: Klara and the Sun
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Klara and the Sun – based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel of the same name – has already received mixed reviews from theatregoers. Here, Michele E. Hawkins shares why, for her, it was a five-star offering.
Directed by New Zealand actor–writer–director Taika Waititi, Klara and the Sun was made from a screenplay by Taika Waititi and Dahvi Waller, adapted from the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro.
The film is evidently set in the near future, though with a retro aesthetic devoid of mobile phones, social media, and electric vehicles. Its protagonist, Klara (Jenna Ortega), from whose viewpoint we chiefly see this world, is an “artificial friend” (A.F.), a robotic artificial intelligence who sees the sun as a deity of sorts. Klara, along with other outdated A.F. models, is desperate to be adopted rather than melted down for parts.
Fortunately for Klara, Josie (Mia Tharia), a lonely teenager promised an A.F., insists on choosing Karla in spite of her mother Chrissy’s (Amy Adams) objections.
Upon arrival at Josie’s house, Klara faces coolness from Chrissy and outright distain from the housekeeper, Melania (Rachel House), but blossoms under Josie’s immediately appreciative friendship and in turn becomes Josie’s best friend. Josie introduces Klara to her boyfriend, Rick (Aran Murphy); the three friends explore the world together; and Klara finds fulfilment in being a true friend to Josie.
Klara’s rosy view of the world takes a dark turn when she learns that Josie’s own future is not assured. But she knows to whom to turn: her source of nourishment, the sun.
Klara and the Sun is not what you might expect from Taika Waititi, in that it doesn’t feature his usual quirkiness, but it is a remarkable film that gently leads the viewer on a journey of enquiry into what we humans are choosing to do with artificial intelligence and what might be some of the moral consequences.
The film’s equivalent intelligence, Klara, though utterly unversed in the ways of the world, is sentient; she recognises and experiences compassion for the suffering of another; and she determines to act for the good of another. In this way, the fable gives rise to such questions as how much we will sacrifice in order to save another; what our responsibilities are to a being of our creation whose emergent properties include altruistic empathy; and how to treat such entities with moral integrity once they have served our purposes.
With stellar performances all round, cinematography to draw the viewer into a subtle otherness, and beautiful scripting, Klara and the Sun’s gentle whimsy offers enchantment and thoughtful reflection about the world we are on the brink of choosing.
You can see Klara and the Sun at Dendy, Hoyts, Limelight, and Kambri cinemas.
