Sony Pictures Entertainment dropped a trailer for its upcoming film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun.
The Nobel Prize winner’s novel, published in 2021 by Knopf, tells the story of Klara, an “Artificial Friend” android who becomes a companion to a teenage girl named Josie. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “a haunting fable of a lonely, moribund world that is entirely too plausible.”
The film adaptation is written by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) and Dahvi Waller (Mad Men) and directed by Waititi. Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) stars as Klara, and Mia Tharia (The Listeners) plays Josie. Other cast members include Amy Adams (Doubt) as Josie’s mother, Chrissie, and Natasha Lyonne (Orange Is the New Black), who plays the manager of the store where Klara is purchased.
The trailer opens with Lyonne greeting a group of androids in the store, telling them, “I know, Artificial Friends aren’t as popular as they used to be, but I still firmly believe that all of you older AFs have a fighting chance at finding homes.”
Later, Ortega and Tharia introduce themselves to each other, and Adams tells Tharia, “Honey, if I’m going to buy you a robot, I’m not going to be spending money on an old, outdated one.”
“You said that I can choose, and I choose Klara,” Tharia responds. “She’s special.”
“And she’s on special!” Lyonne says. “Twenty percent off.”
The trailer then shows scenes of Ortega, Tharia, and Adams interacting at the family’s home. As Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” plays on the soundtrack, Ortega says, “Glorious sun, I’m coming to your house to speak face-to-face. I know the answers are out there. Please show me the way to heal this family and save us all from the darkness and certain doom. OK, thank you, I love you!”
Klara and the Sun is scheduled to premiere in theaters on Oct. 23.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
