While it may be off to a tough start, Jenna Ortega's Klara and the Sun still has an avid defender in its director.
Centered on the eponymous android as she is purchased for a terminally ill teenager and learns about life, Ortega's sci-fi film was originally on track for a big release, with Taika Waititi co-writing and directing the adaptation. After its BFI London Film Festival, however, Klara and the Sun began a swift decline as critics had sharply negative reviews for the film, resulting in Sony scaling back its wide theatrical release plans.
Now, as the sci-fi movie entered its second weekend in theaters, and its Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes began to enjoy a swift upturn, Taika Waititi took to his Instagram to address Klara and the Sun's detractors. The co-writer/director was vehement in his defense of the film, decrying its detractors as being "irrelevant" and "out of touch," while also stating that he's refused to read the reviews of his films in "almost 15 years." Check out Waititi's comments and post below:
Taika Waititi: I haven't read a review of anything aimed at me or my peers in almost 15 years. But I do listen to the people. 💥🎉🫶🏽💦
So this Halloween, let's spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn't achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus settled, and became critics. The same people who also hated Jojo Rabbit 😂 🤷🏽♂️
Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin. 🗑️😢🫶🏽
In the wake of his Klara and the Sun defense, the internet had a variety of responses to Waititi's criticisms. While some remained firm in lambasting critics in a similar fashion to Waititi, a majority took to expressing a mix of disappointment and indifference to his comments, with many opining that the filmmaker has "lost [his] touch," especially when comparing such recent films as Thor: Love and Thunder to his past ones.
Much to the latter group's point, while Waititi started off with one of the biggest hot streaks a young filmmaker can enjoy, netting multiple movies in the 90-percentile range on Rotten Tomatoes, reception to his movies in the director's chair has been on a gradual decline since his record-high 97% "Certified Fresh" score in Hunter for the Wilderpeople. His film just prior to the Ortega-led sci-fi movie initially set a new record-low with Next Goal Wins' 46% score, as showcased in the chart below:
Title | Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score | Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
Eagle vs. Shark (2007) | 57% | 67% |
Boy (2010) | 88% | 86% |
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) | 96% | 87% |
Hunter for the Wilderpeople (2016) | 97% | 91% |
Thor: Ragnarok (2017) | 93% | 87% |
Jojo Rabbit (2019) | 81% | 94% |
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) | 64% | 76% |
Next Goal Wins (2023) | 46% | 85% |
Klara and the Sun (2026) | 24% | 74% |
Unfortunately for Waititi and the rest of his team, Klara and the Sun's reviews weren't the only low that the film hit either, with its box office debut of just $701,509 marking the second-lowest in Ortega's career, ahead of Studio 666. Its second weekend, meanwhile, with it not placing in the Top 10 at the box office, Sony elected not to disclose the film's numbers, with varying reports indicating the sci-fi movie brought in anywhere from an additional $45-165,000 in its limited screening availability.
Though his initial inclination to retaliate against critics may not have put Klara and the Sun in the best position going into its eventual home media and streaming releases, it's not all negative for Waititi and Ortega's sci-fi movie. With its 74% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, it not only shows that the film has its defenders, but also places it in the latter's Top 10 on the review aggregate, and with its feel-good core and star-studded cast, it could further enjoy redemption when it comes to home platforms.