Klara and the Sun screens at London Film Festival
Jenna Ortega plays a solar-powered robot searching for a home in Klara and the Sun, which screens at 20:45 on Thursday 15 October 2026 at Southbank Centre as part of the BFI London Film Festival BFI.
The film is directed by Taika Waititi Deadline and is based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel of the same name Deadline. It arrives in London during the 70th edition of the festival, which runs from 7 October to 18 October 2026 BFI.
Ortega plays Klara. Amy Adams plays Chrissie. Mia Tharia plays Josie. Natasha Lyonne plays the Store Manager Deadline.
Klara is a B1 model robot on sale at The Friend Store Deadline. She belongs to a line called Artificial Friends, machines built to keep people company and guard against loneliness Deadline. She watches the world from a shop window and waits to be chosen.
She is chosen by Josie, the daughter of Chrissie Deadline. Josie is seriously ill. The story follows Klara as she moves from the store into the family home and tries to understand what Josie needs.
The wider cast includes Aran Murphy, who was named alongside Adams and Ortega when the ensemble was announced Deadline.
For fans, this means a first large public showing in the festival circuit. Waititi said in January that the film would debut this year and raised the possibility of a festival launch Screen Daily. London is where that plan meets an audience.
The festival has pitched itself as open access. Tickets priced at £6 are available for 16 to 25 year olds BFI. That is a short walk from Klara's own starting point: a young companion, waiting in a window, hoping someone will take her home.
