One of Taika Waititi’s greatest strengths as a director is his unique voice; he’s able to bring a light touch to tragedy (Jojo Rabbit) and a gentle sadness to offbeat comedy (Our Flag Means Death). That makes him an excellent choice to direct Klara and the Sun, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Sony Pictures just released the first trailer, and it’s giving strong Hunt for the Wilderpeople vibes—a good thing, from my perspective, since that’s my favorite Waititi film.
Per the official premise:
Based on the bestselling novel from Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro and written and directed by Academy Award winner Taika Waititi, Klara and the Sun introduces audiences to Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend who wants nothing more than to find the perfect home. When Klara meets Josie (Mia Tharia), each immediately senses a kindred spirit in the other. Josie has a fraught relationship with her mother (Amy Adams), and they’ve suffered great loss, but Klara’s innocent wonder and unwavering loyalty begin to heal the family and bring light to Josie’s complicated world.
The cast also includes Natasha Lyonne as an artificial friend (AF) store manager; Rachel House as the housekeeper, Melania; Aran Murphy (son of Cillian Murphy) as Josie’s best friend, Rick; and Sophia Bryant-Taukiri as Josie’s older sister, Sal. Steve Buscemi and Harry Greenwood also appear in as-yet-undisclosed roles.
Like Ishiguro’s novel, Klara and the Sun is set in an unidentified future, with Klara narrating. As a solar-powered AF, Klara has a special relationship with the sun, the source of her nourishment, but she also bonds with Josie when the girl and her mother are shopping for AFs. So Josie chooses Klara, despite the latter being an older model. Josie’s mom is skeptical but agrees on a trial basis, encouraged by the 20 percent discount. “Just remember everything you learned and hopefully they’ll come to love you like a member of the family or family dog,” Lyonne’s store manager tells Klara. Klara soon senses that something is wrong and turns to her old friend, the sun, for guidance. (Book readers will know what’s up.)
Ishiguro’s leisurely meditation on humanity’s relationship to technology might seem out of Waititi’s usual wheelhouse, but the director recently told Vanity Fair that he quickly realized he needed a new tonal approach to the material and adapted quickly to make his most dramatic film. “Sometimes I think you get caught up in, like, ‘Oh, people want the same tone as this other thing from eight years ago,’ and it’s nice to not have to cater to that so much or cater to your own expectations of what you think you want to do,” Waititi said.
Klara and the Sun hits theaters on October 23, 2026.
