Klara and the Sun stars Jenna Ortega in Taika Waititi sci-fi film

Opening in cinemas on October 22 in Australia and October 23 in the UK and US, Klara and the Sun arrives as a 116-minute PG-rated sci-fi dramedy directed by Taika Waititi, Mashable reported.

The story unfolds in a post-World War III, post-internet society where wealthy households purchase “Artificial Friends” to keep isolated teenagers company. Ortega plays Klara, an older model who stands on one leg like a flamingo and prays to the sun, terrified of being sent to an android junkyard and stripped for parts.

Waititi Adds Darker Elements to the Story

Mia Tharia stars as Josie, a sick 14-year-old who chooses Klara over brighter, shinier models. Josie lives in a wheat-field home with her smothering mother Chrissie, played by Amy Adams, and fiercely protective maid Melania, played by Rachel House. As Mashable detailed, Josie suffers from a mysterious illness requiring IV medicines and violent fits, yet the adults refuse to explain her condition to the solar-powered robot.

Waititi co-wrote the screenplay with Dahvi Waller, injecting the source material with darker elements including violence, blood, death, arson, and suicide. Natasha Lyonne appears as a kindly store manager who reads bedtime stories to robot wards before locking Klara in a dark closet.

Critics Find Adaptation Too Focused on Comedy

The Independent noted that Waititi’s adaptation pumps spaces of Ishiguro’s novel full of jokes, trading subtle robotic sincerity for cartoon character physical comedy.

Waititi Brings Original Ideas to the Adaptation

Why would you do a cover of a song with exactly the same instrumentation? Waititi said. You make the film because you love the book. But you at least want to bring some original ideas to the table.

As a father with two kids, I always fear I’ll lose one, he said. The younger me would have thought, Oh, you can’t replace someone special. But the older I get, and the more in love with my kids I get, I think, Oh, eventually I’d believe it was them. The human brain is easily adaptable.