Klara and the Sun: Jenna Ortega Is Great, the Movie Around Her Is a Mess

I read Klara and the Sun in one sitting a few years back and cried on a train, so I have been nervous about this film ever since the Taika Waititi announcement. Not because he is a bad director. He is clearly not. It is just that Ishiguro's book is quiet, almost whispered, and Taika's whole thing is loud and funny and winking at the camera. Well, the film is out this weekend and the reviews from London suggest my worry was fair.

For those who have not read the novel, Klara is an Artificial Friend, a solar powered android sold as a companion for lonely kids. A mother buys her for her sick teenage daughter Josie, and Klara, who sees the world with this strange childlike faith, decides the Sun can heal Josie if she just asks it properly. That is the whole book really. It is about love and belief and whether a machine can have either. It is devastating in a very gentle way.

Jenna Ortega plays Klara, and from everything I have read she is the reason to see this. Screen Daily singled her out and even called the adaptation respectful, which is the kindest review I have found. Amy Adams plays the mother and Mia Tharia, who I did not know before this, plays Josie. Steve Buscemi and Natasha Lyonne turn up too, which tells you something about the tone Taika was going for.

And the tone is the problem, by the sound of it. Time Out said the comedy flattens all the subtle stuff that made the book special. The Boston Globe gave it one and a half stars and used the word tedious, which stings. The South China Morning Post was a bit kinder with three stars but still called it saccharine. A few London Film Festival critics apparently went as low as one star. So this is not a case of one grumpy reviewer. The split is real.

Here is my honest take without having seen it yet. Taika co-wrote this with Dahvi Waller, who did brilliant work on Mad Men, and Michael Giacchino did the score, so there is real talent in the room. My guess is that the film will play much better for people who never read the book and just want a sweet, slightly odd sci-fi drama with a great lead performance. Book fans may need to leave their expectations at the door.

It opened on Thursday night to a tiny preview number, somewhere around 85,000 dollars, so Sony is clearly treating it as counter-programming against Clayface rather than a wide crowd pleaser. That is probably the right call.

I will see it this week, mostly for Ortega, and report back. If you have read the book, I would love to know whether the ending survived intact. That is the bit I am most worried about.