Like Ishiguro’s novel, Klara and the Sun is set in an unidentified future, with Klara narrating. As a solar-powered AF, Klara has a special relationship with the sun, the source of her nourishment, but she also bonds with Josie when the girl and her mother are shopping for AFs. So Josie chooses Klara, despite the latter being an older model. Josie’s mom is skeptical but agrees on a trial basis, encouraged by the 20 percent discount. “Just remember everything you learned and hopefully they’ll come to love you like a member of the family or family dog,” Lyonne’s store manager tells Klara. Klara soon senses that something is wrong and turns to her old friend, the sun, for guidance. (Book readers will know what’s up.)
Ishiguro’s leisurely meditation on humanity’s relationship to technology might seem out of Waititi’s usual wheelhouse, but the director recently told Vanity Fair that he quickly realized he needed a new tonal approach to the material and adapted quickly to make his most dramatic film. “Sometimes I think you get caught up in, like, ‘Oh, people want the same tone as this other thing from eight years ago,’ and it’s nice to not have to cater to that so much or cater to your own expectations of what you think you want to do,” Waititi said.
Klara and the Sun hits theaters on October 23, 2026.
