By John Corrado

Sony has just released the first trailer for Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun. This is the filmmaker’s long-delayed film adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, which is finally arriving in theatres this October after having its release date in limbo for quite some time. Filming wrapped two years ago.

Jenna Ortega stars in the film as a robotic “Artificial Friend” who is purchased as a companion for a lonely teen girl (played by Mia Tharia). Amy Adams plays the girl’s mother. Natasha Lyonne is the store manager selling the humanoid robots.

I read the book when it came out in 2021, and I’ve never been sure if Waititi’s quirky sensibilities are the right fit for adapting Ishiguro’s work. I’m still not sure after seeing this trailer. The tone looks a bit…off? Too comedic and eccentric, when the tone should’ve been closer to the 2010 adaptation of Ishiguro’s profoundly sad Never Let Me Go. And Ortega already seems somewhat miscast in the role. I’ll reserve full judgement until I see it, of course.

The film opens exclusively in theatres on October 23rd. I’m fully expecting this one to premiere at TIFF, where Waititi’s last film Next Goal Wins played in 2023, and Jojo Rabbit premiered and won the People’s Choice Award in 2019.