Klara and the Sun (2026)

O’Hara finds the film charming in places but hampered by an uneven, inconsistent tone. She praises Jenna Ortega’s wide-eyed performance and determination as Klara.

Jenkins finds the adaptation a breezy, incoherent fantasy that misses the emotional mark. He criticizes Waititi for undercutting the novel’s profound themes with juvenile humor and leaving ideas unresolved.

Loughrey judges the adaptation a schmaltzy misfire that betrays the novel’s quiet, meditative vision. She particularly faults its cartoonish treatment of Klara and its forced jokes for flattening the source material’s incisive observations.

Robb finds the adaptation hollow, arguing it strips away the novel’s emotional and philosophical substance. He praises Jenna Ortega’s earnest performance but faults the film for barely developing its dystopian premise.

The critic pans the film as a relentlessly twee, confoundingly bad adaptation. They fault its slapstick and tonal misjudgments for undermining its existential questions and Jenna Ortega’s performance.

Calhoun’s headline characterizes the adaptation as overstuffed. The headline offers no further detail about what works or what specifically feels excessive.

The critic finds the film cloying and overburdened, though Jenna Ortega’s performance is frequently winning. The review particularly praises her sunny expressiveness and comic physicality, while faulting the film’s muddled storylines and underdeveloped relationships.

The critic calls the adaptation badly misjudged and says it fails to recapture the novel’s magic. The complaint is that the film loses what made the source novel work.

Willmore finds the adaptation misbegotten and tonally glib, with its emotional and dramatic impact largely falling flat. She praises Jenna Ortega’s ability to make Klara’s guileless appearance compelling, but says little else in the film works.

The review judges the adaptation a dud and says its cutesy AI-fairytale approach needs a hard reset. It singles out that tone as the central problem, with no praise evident in the available text.

Grierson finds the film overwhelmingly sentimental, simpleminded and emotionally unearned. He praises Mia Tharia’s snarky delivery but says it is overwhelmed by cloying scenes and melodrama.

Bradshaw calls the film a sentimental, laborious mess that says little of substance about AI, love or grief. He particularly objects to its mannered performances and contrived ending.

Rooney pans the film as cloying, clumsy, and emotionally ineffective. He particularly faults its forced whimsy for undermining Ishiguro’s subtle storytelling and the film’s attempts at poignancy.

Lodge finds the adaptation a calamitous mismatch with Ishiguro’s novel, calling it both perky and inert. He singles out the film’s twee tone and textureless visuals, while noting that Jenna Ortega cannot overcome the one-note writing.

The critic finds the adaptation disappointingly hollow, faulting Taika Waititi’s heavy-handed sentimentality for flattening the novel’s emotional complexity. Jenna Ortega’s earnest performance as Klara stands out as a bright spot.

The critic finds the film moving but ultimately frustrated by its uneven tone and juvenile jokes. They praise Klara’s fractured, grid-like point-of-view sequences as one of the film’s most inspired flourishes.

Wise finds the film a flat, overly obvious adaptation that fails to deliver on its promised blend of comedy and drama. He praises Jenna Ortega’s energy early on, but complains that the story loses its fun and subtlety as it turns toward illness and mortality.

The critic finds the film a cloying, emotionally manipulative misfire that fails to engage with its story’s darker implications. They praise a brief scene of absurdity for honestly confronting the society depicted, and note Jenna Ortega’s committed physical performance.