KLARA AND THE SUN**** - BFI London Film Festival 2026 - Day 10

I have read so many negative reviews of KLARA AND THE SUN and I just want to say that those reviewers are all heartless bastards!  Maybe they were all expecting a hard-boiled sci-fi film about some kind of BLADERUNNER style dystopian future that asks profound questions about the nature of consciousness and whether androids can be human too.  But neither Kazuo Ishiguro's stunning novel, nor Taika Waititi's adaptation are about that. They are both beautiful and deeply moving fables about grief and the lengths parents will go to to "never let me go".  And in doing so, both works of art ask us profound questions about selfishness, and the limit between humanity and inhumanity.  In other words, when and how do good people do bad things for seemingly good reasons.

Looked at through this lens, it becomes clear that KLARA AND THE SUN is neither about Jenna Ortega's AI-driven robot companion Klara, nor is it about the chronically ill human, Josie (Dahvi Waller), that she has been bought to accompany.  In fact, this is a movie about Josie's mother Chrissy (Amy Adams).  When we meet Chrissy, she is portrayed as a deeply controlling, vaguely sinister, working, single-mother. But as the movie unfolds we realise that Chrissy is already grieving the death of Josie's younger sister, and is now clinging on to Josie with all her emotional strength, no matter the cost. Meanwhile Josie is both struggling with grief and going through a kind of teenage rebellion. And all the time, we have Klara as a naïve observer, struggling to do good and to make everyone happy, even when they have competing claims.

I loved all three performances and really believed in the emotional stakes.  I didn't love all of Waititi's directorial choices though. I might have cooled down some of the more fairy-tale, grotesque costuming and production design - especially in the mean kids' party scene - because I feel it takes away from the profound emotional core of the story. And I think we lose something by not seeing what happened to Josie's father and the people who choose to live outside of the system that Chrissy is eager to compete in. That said, this is still a satisfying and moving film to watch and well worth your time.

KLARA AND THE SUN is rated 12A and has a running time of 1hr 56m. It will be released in the UK and USA on October 23rd.