@oldhollywoodcapKlara and the Sun, the 2026 take on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, has landed at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes across 10 reviews. Taika Waititi directed it, with Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams leading, and that score stands as the lowest of his career behind the camera. What critics keep circling back to is the mismatch. The book digs into what it means to be human, into isolation, into love and into artificial intelligence, and several reviewers feel Waititi's signature quirky humor and sentimentality get in the way of those quieter philosophical questions rather than opening them up. It's a jarring spot for a director whose earlier run seemed untouchable. What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit. All of them found a way to let absurd comedy sit beside real emotional weight. Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins had already split people, so this marks another tough reception for someone whose best work once carried such a specific fingerprint. Whether Waititi can get back to the humor-and-heart balance that made those films land the way they did is the open question now.

@oldhollywoodcapKlara and the Sun, the 2026 take on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, has landed at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes across 10 reviews. Taika Waititi directed it, with Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams leading, and that score stands as the lowest of his career behind the camera. What critics keep circling back to is the mismatch. The book digs into what it means to be human, into isolation, into love and into artificial intelligence, and several reviewers feel Waititi's signature quirky humor and sentimentality get in the way of those quieter philosophical questions rather than opening them up. It's a jarring spot for a director whose earlier run seemed untouchable. What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit. All of them found a way to let absurd comedy sit beside real emotional weight. Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins had already split people, so this marks another tough reception for someone whose best work once carried such a specific fingerprint. Whether Waititi can get back to the humor-and-heart balance that made those films land the way they did is the open question now.