Is Klara and the Sun Sad? I Didn’t Cry, But Parents Should Know This (8.5/10, No Spoilers)
Is Klara and the Sun sad? It’s bittersweet. It’s about a sick girl and a family that has already lost someone, so the heavy stuff is real. But I didn’t cry, and I walked out feeling warm more than wrecked. Whether you’ll need tissues comes down to one thing I explain below.
I saw Klara and the Sun on opening day, Friday, October 23, at a 4:00 p.m. showing. Jenna Ortega plays Klara, a solar powered robot friend, and Taika Waititi made the movie from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel. I gave it 8.5 out of 10.
No spoilers here. I won’t tell you how it ends. I hadn’t read the book, so I did my homework afterward and put the fun parts in this post, along with a parents guide, because one scene in the middle caught me off guard.
| In theaters | October 23, 2026 (I saw it on opening day) |
| Where to watch | In theaters only for now |
| How I saw it | Opening day, regular screen, AMC A-List |
| Director | Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok) |
| Cast | Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Aran Murphy, Natasha Lyonne, Steve Buscemi |
| Based on | Klara and the Sun (2021), the novel by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro |
| Genre | Sci-fi drama with gentle humor |
| Runtime | 1 hr 57 min |
| Rating | PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence and strong language |
| Is it sad? | Bittersweet, with heavy themes, but I didn’t cry |
| Scare level | 1 / 5 (no jump scares, a few upsetting moments) |
| Animals | A dog shows up briefly early on. No real animals stood out to me |
| Post-credits scene | No |
| My verdict | 8.5 / 10, worth seeing in a theater |
| Best for / Good to know | Best for teens, adults and anyone who loves quiet, heartfelt stories. Good to know: it’s gentle and reflective, so it fits best for 10 and up |
Is Klara and the Sun Sad? My Honest Answer
The story is built on sad things. Josie, the girl who brings Klara home, is seriously ill, and her mom is terrified of losing her. There’s also a loss in the family’s past that hangs over a lot of scenes. So yes, the subject matter is sad.
But it never felt like a tearjerker to me. Most of the movie is told through Klara’s eyes, and Klara is so hopeful and so sincere that it softens everything around her. I kept smiling at the way she sees the world. The best word I have for how it made me feel is warm. It woke up something soft and pure in me, which I honestly didn’t expect from a sci-fi movie about a robot.
I didn’t cry, not even at the end, and the warm feeling is honestly what stayed with me more than any sad moment. If you tear up easily at stories about sick kids or worried moms, though, bring a tissue. The heavy parts are real, and I’ll leave the ending for you to see.
What Klara and the Sun Is About (No Spoilers)
It’s set in a near future where families buy AFs, short for Artificial Friends, as companions for their kids. Klara is one of them. She runs on sunlight, and she spends her first days standing in a store window, studying the people outside and waiting for someone to pick her.
Josie (Mia Tharia) is the girl who chooses her. Josie is bright and funny and sick a lot, and her mom Chrissie (Amy Adams) watches her very closely. Klara moves into their house, gets to know Josie’s world, including Rick (Aran Murphy), her best friend next door, and slowly figures out how much this family is carrying.
Klara believes the Sun can do almost anything. Watching how far she’ll go for Josie because of that belief is the heart of the movie.
Jenna Ortega is the reason a lot of people will buy a ticket, and she really delivers. Her eyes are what got me. They’re clear and bright and so alive, which is kind of amazing for someone playing a robot. Amy Adams is so good as Josie’s mom, too. She wants to protect her daughter so badly that she comes off sharp and on edge all the time, and she plays that tension perfectly.
One fun casting note: Rick is played by Aran Murphy, who is Cillian Murphy’s son. This is his big-screen debut.
Why I Gave It 8.5 Out of 10
The first thing I noticed was the color. The whole movie looks like a warm painting, with golden sunlight, soft greens and that teal sky you see on the poster. Since Klara runs on sunlight, the light almost becomes its own character, and every sunny scene felt like a small gift.
The story is solid, too. On the surface it’s simple, a girl and her robot friend, but it keeps opening up into bigger questions about love, family and what makes someone who they are. It’s funny, too. There are little laugh moments sprinkled all the way through, so it never just drifts along quietly.
It’s a gentle, reflective film. Even with those funny moments, it takes its time and lets quiet scenes breathe, and if you go in expecting that pace, those moments feel like room to think.
The Book Behind the Movie, in Two Minutes
I hadn’t read the book before going in, so I did my homework afterward. Here’s the quick version, with no ending.
- It’s by Kazuo Ishiguro, the British author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017. He also wrote The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, which both became movies.
- Klara and the Sun came out in March 2021. It was his first novel since the Nobel, it made the Booker Prize longlist, and it was on Barack Obama’s summer reading list that year.
- The whole book is narrated by Klara. You only know what she notices, which is a lot, and what she understands, which isn’t always much. That’s why the movie keeps you so close to her.
- Some kids in this world are “lifted,” meaning their genes were edited to make them smarter. It matters a lot in the story and comes with risks, so listen for that word.
- Klara treats the Sun almost like a god. She even names a polluting construction machine the Cootings Machine, after the letters on its side, because she’s sure it’s bad for the Sun. I loved that detail.
Three words that will help you follow the dialogue: AF (Artificial Friend), lifted, and the Sun’s “nourishment.” If you know those going in, you’re set.
Klara recharging in the sunlight made me laugh a little, because my own version is a 40-minute red light sauna session. If you’re curious about that side of my life, here’s how often I actually do red light therapy.
Taika Waititi wrote and directed the movie. He’s the director behind Jojo Rabbit and Thor: Ragnarok, which probably explains why a story this heavy still had me laughing in a few spots. And if you like book adaptations, I also reviewed the Verity movie this fall, written for people who had already read that one.
Dog Scene Guide: Are There Any Animals in Klara and the Sun?
I always keep track of animals for my fellow dog lovers, and this time I have to be honest: I didn’t notice a single animal while I was watching. That tells you how small any animal moment is.
So I went digging afterward. Common Sense Media’s parents review mentions a dog that belongs to an unhoused man. In the book, that’s an early scene. From the store window, Klara sees a man and his dog lying very still in a doorway and thinks they’ve died, and the next morning they’re both up and fine. It’s the moment that convinces Klara the Sun can heal. If the movie follows the book, it happens during the store window part near the start.
Other than that, the closest thing to animals is a set of robot birds that Rick builds, and none of the parents guides I read mention the bull that scares Klara in the book. So if seeing an animal get hurt is your worry, you can relax with this one.
With a 14-year-old dog at home, the way Klara watches over Josie hit me in a quiet way. It made me think about how we look after our oldest girl, and if you have a senior dog too, here’s what I’ve learned about how long Pomeranians live.
Is Klara and the Sun Scary?
No. I’d put it at 1 out of 5. I didn’t notice any jump scares, and the robots aren’t creepy at all. This is the opposite of an evil AI movie.
There are a few moments that are upsetting rather than scary, like Josie getting sick and a party scene around the middle that I explain in the next section. Parents guides also flag a car accident and some rough moments where robots get damaged. I’m keeping those vague so I don’t spoil anything.
Is Klara and the Sun OK for Kids? My Parents Guide
It’s rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence and strong language. That feels right to me, and honestly, the violence is the part that would make me careful with younger kids.
The scene that stuck with me happens around the middle of the movie, at Josie’s house. Her mom hosts a get-together for other lifted kids and their moms, which the book calls an interaction meeting. There’s piano playing and polite small talk, and then some of the other kids start treating the AFs badly. One of them tosses Klara across the room. It isn’t bloody, but watching kids be cruel to such a sweet, trusting character is hard, and a younger kid could find it really upsetting. Later that same day, Josie gets a nosebleed and collapses.
Klara gets pushed around in a few other spots too. She’s a robot and doesn’t feel pain the way we do, but the movie makes you care about her, so those moments still land.
On language, Plugged In counted one f-word and four or five s-words, plus milder words like crap and damn. There’s no sexual content beyond a hug.
My take: 13 and up is about right. For 11 or 12, it’s a parent’s call, and I’d mention the party scene ahead of time. Common Sense Media puts it at 11 and up. For kids under 10, I’d wait, not because it’s scary, but because the cruelty and the sick-kid storyline are a lot for little ones. If you want a gentler book adaptation for the family, my Sense and Sensibility 2026 age rating review covers a PG option.
Is There a Post-Credits Scene in Klara and the Sun?
No. There’s no mid-credits or post-credits scene, so you can head out when the credits start.
My AMC ticket listed 1 hour 57 minutes, and the app warns that the movie starts 25 to 30 minutes after the listed showtime because of trailers and ads. At my 4:00 showing, the credits were already rolling by 6:16 on my phone. So plan on about two hours and 20 minutes from the listed showtime until you’re walking out.
The lobby was pretty calm when I got there, with just a short line at the concession stand. I don’t eat at the movies, so I headed straight in after snapping a few photos of the poster. Even though the poster was up in the IMAX lightbox, I watched it on a regular screen, and honestly that felt like plenty for a quiet movie like this.
Who Should See Klara and the Sun
- See it if you love quiet, heartfelt stories that leave you thinking on the drive home.
- See it if you’re a Jenna Ortega or Amy Adams fan. They’re both the best part.
- See it with your teen if you want a good conversation starter about AI and what makes someone family.
In the mood for another story that stays with you for a while? This one is a true story: here’s my review of The One About Matthew Perry, Netflix’s new three-part documentary told by his sister and lifelong friends.
Watch the Klara and the Sun Trailer
Here’s the official trailer from Sony Pictures if you want a feel for the look. You’ll see the store window and the sunny colors I loved.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you only remember two things, make it these. The movie is bittersweet, but it’s more warm than heartbreaking. And the party scene in the middle is the part to think about before you bring a younger kid. Everything else is gentle.
Have you read the book? Tell me in the comments whether the movie matches how you pictured Klara, because I’m really curious. If you want another 2026 movie with a big heart, here’s my Wildwood review, a stop-motion movie I gave 9.5 out of 10. And if you’re in the mood for the total opposite, my very next review was Ali G: Who Iz I?, a crude R-rated comedy I laughed through from start to finish. And for another quiet, grown-up drama, here’s my Possible Love parents guide for Lee Chang-dong’s new Korean film on Netflix.
About me: I’m Emily. My AMC A-List lets me see up to four movies a week, I almost always go solo, and I write each review the same night. Thrillers yes, horror never. I always read up on a movie before I go, and I share that homework here too. See all my Movie Nights reviews.
Got a dog at home too? Here’s how I knew my senior dog needed a stroller, and the homemade dog food I make for our senior dog. And every movie I’ve reviewed this year is in My 2026 Movie Log.
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