On October 22, one of the year’s most anticipated film adaptations will be released worldwide — “Klara and the Sun,” based on the best-selling novel by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. We explain why this film is unmissable.
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Plot
Klara (Jenna Ortega) is no ordinary girl: she is a robot, an artificial friend designed to alleviate the loneliness of those she lives with. Klara is an older model robot, and her chances of finding a human companion are slim. One day, while on display in a store window, she is chosen by a girl named Josie (Mia Tharia), and a special bond immediately forms between them. Josie has a strained relationship with her mother (Amy Adams), and their family is haunted by grief. However, Klara’s sincerity, curiosity, and unwavering devotion gradually help to heal the family’s wounds and fill Josie’s world with hope and light.
About Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel
The film is based on the best-selling novel “Klara and the Sun,” a dystopian work by British author and Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel is set in an indeterminate future in the United States. The book immerses us in the world of a unique heroine — a robot girl whose mission is to bring happiness to children who have families but feel lonely. It is an exquisitely tender yet flawlessly restrained story about life in a world dominated by high technology, a novel class system, and the commonplace practice of genetic editing.
“Klara and the Sun” was released in 2021, became a New York Times bestseller, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. In the book, Ishiguro explores themes he has previously examined, notably in his 2005 novel “Never Let Me Go,” which tells the story of 20th-century England where people are cloned to serve as living organ donors for transplants. Is there anything truly unique about us that cannot be replicated? What can one human being offer another? Why do we feel alone even in the company of others?
Indeed, The Guardian, in its review, states that “Klara and the Sun” is a book about what it means to be human: “The novel is set in a speculative future that feels unnervingly close to our own. Ishiguro writes about a covert moral shift: a technological progress that has changed how people think about what it means to be human. The novel compels the reader to repeatedly ask questions and seek answers, until its philosophical weight quietly takes hold. ‘Klara and the Sun’ is a book about what it means to be human. The fact that Ishiguro can make such immense issues feel so tangible and so simple is just one reason why he was awarded the Nobel Prize.”
Director
Work on the adaptation began in 2020, and in 2023, it was announced that Oscar winner Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit,” “Thor: Love and Thunder”) would be directing. Waititi, born in New Zealand to a Jewish mother and a father of Māori descent, is known for his bold, ironic style and interest in social themes. His most acclaimed film, the dramedy “Jojo Rabbit,” about a boy in Germany during World War II who invents an imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, earned him an Oscar.
Cast
The film features a star-studded cast. The lead role of the robot girl is played by 23-year-old Jenna Ortega, star of the series “Wednesday,” who, even in the trailer, showcases her signature detached and quirky demeanor. Amy Adams plays the mother of the family Klara joins, and Josie, her daughter, is portrayed by Mia Tharia (“The Education of Jane Cumming,” the series “The Listeners”).
We will see this dramatic story about friendship, loneliness, and what it means to be human on screen starting October 22.