Klara and the Sun

Grade: C

Klara and the Sun is a triumph when it comes to cinematography, sets, costumes, locations, and other general production values and world-building. That’s not enough. Buried deep within the technical achievements is a story that I either wasn’t enthusiastic about, or couldn’t connect with. Often both.

It takes place in one of those movie futures where technology has taken over even more, and not for the better. It’s yet another time period where if that’s what it’s going to be like, then I’m glad I won’t be around for it. Tell my great great grandchildren I said “Good luck.” The plot involves what’s called an Artificial Friend (AF). It’s a premise that was done very well in last year’s Companion. Then there’s the other end of the spectrum: Bicentennial Man and this.

Jenna Ortega plays Klara, who is purchased for teenager Josie (Mia Tharia) by her mother Chrissy. Amy Adams plays Chrissy as an uptight curmudgeon, eternally skeptical of, annoyed by, and dismissive of Klara at the beginning, so she can have the inevitable change of heart and warm up to her later. There’s 20 minutes of movie before the title appears on the screen. Shortly afterward, we are told, in an “early” scene, that Artificial Friends bleed a purple substance that is highly flammable. That’s an awful lot of random explanation, unless, of course, the characters need to know that for later. Josie has undergone a genetically engineered procedure called “lifting,” to enhance her academic ability. That will come into play, too.

The screenwriters telegraph so many future payoffs that it’s hard to get immersed in the story. Even Ortega, Adams, Steve Buscemi, and the rest of the cast can’t make much of an impression under all the cinematic machinery. Director Taika Waititi’s credits include many shorts and commercials, but he did do the delightfully quirky Jojo Rabbit, and I even gave his Next Goal Wins a pass. I usually like what he’s thinking, but I don’t know what he was thinking here.

By the end, I get what Klara and the Sun is trying to do, but it never makes for entertaining cinema. Waititi is clearly going for a sweet, poignant ending and message, but I left in a disappointed, gloomy funk. The version of days-to-come, as presented in movies like this, may have exciting gadgets, but all the personality and human connection is stripped away. I don’t require every film to be happy uplifting sunshine, but at least give me something stimulating to latch onto. I didn’t like how Klara and the Sun made me feel.

Grade: C