Taika Is Back: Klara And The Sun

We have followed Taika through almost his entire career. At one point, in the early 2010s, we nearly had him 3D-scanned for an iPad project. The Americans who were going to handle it — because he was out of the country — asked who Waititi even was. It was difficult to find a non-condescending way to say, “The guy who just directed Marvel’s best Thor movie. You might have heard of it.”

Suffice it to say, the excuse for not knowing his name has well and truly run its course. He has hit a rough patch with fans, however, after Thor: Love and Thunder proved a little too eccentric and Next Goal Wins fell somewhat flat. Two blights on an otherwise spotless record, in my opinion. Spotless apart from those two spots.

Now he is returning with Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega, who appears to have spent her entire life method-acting her latest role as a living doll with enormous eyes.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. Another of his works adapted for the screen was the 2010 film Never Let Me Go, starring a fresh-faced Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan.

Klara and the Sun centres on an Artificial Friend, Klara (Jenna Ortega), who wants nothing more than to find the perfect home before she is destined for the scrapheap. When Klara meets Josie (Mia Tharia), each immediately senses a kindred spirit. Josie has a fraught relationship with her mother (Amy Adams), and the family has suffered a great loss, but Klara’s innocent wonder and unwavering loyalty begin to heal them and bring light to Josie’s complicated world.

The movie was shot around Auckland and Wānaka in early 2024. Personally, I think smaller, stranger, character-driven films set in the middle of nowhere are where Taika’s strengths lie. I’m excited to see how it does.