Klara and the Sun(2026)

This wasn’t terrible as the Rotten Tomatoes score would have you believe, but it did not fully succeed in translating the magic from the book. 

Sometimes I think Taika Waititi sabotages himself too much, or maybe this is just the only way he knows to make films. The constant gag jokes were probably the most to blame for the story losing its emotional resonance. I also didn’t like the direction they took with AI—this book was written pre-ChatGPT and they should have kept it that way. It was not necessary to make the points they were trying to make and it only detracted from other themes like grief and faith. Also, the main character and the character with the most agency is literally a robot, so it wasn’t particularly effective either. 

Jenna Ortega did a great job capturing the naïveté and wonder of Klara, and Amy Adams of course kills the grieving mother role. Josie’s actor...is good too, but she really, really looks like Lina Khan and it kind of took me out.