Taika Waititi Hits Back at Critics Over Klara and the Sun

Taika Waititi has defended his film Klara and the Sun on social media, and he has not spared the critics. Variety reported that he posted on Halloween, 31 October 2026, while the film was struggling with reviews and at the box office.

The numbers are not kind to the film so far. Variety reports that its critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 28%, which it describes as the lowest of Waititi's films so far. The film opened in theatres at No. 15 with $720,000 from 880 locations, according to the same report. Sony, which is distributing the film, has since scaled back how many cinemas show it after the negative reviews.

The film stars Jenna Ortega as Klara, an android companion who has been left behind as newer models arrive. Klara tries to bond with her new owner, a young girl named Josie who is seriously ill, in a dystopian future. It is adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel.

Waititi's post opened with a sarcastic nod to Halloween, asking readers to spare a thought for critics. He wrote that critics are sad, lost souls who could not reach their own dreams of becoming artists, and so became critics instead. He said the same critics also disliked Jojo Rabbit, his earlier film. He called critics irrelevant, out of touch and obsolete, and said their reviews belong "in the bin."

Waititi also wrote that he has not read a review of anything aimed at him or his fellow film-makers in almost 15 years. He said he listens to the people who watch his films instead. The post included the film's poster and a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 78%, according to Variety. The Rotten Tomatoes page itself lists a 74% Popcornmeter audience score, based on more than 100 verified ratings.

For anyone new to how films reach the screen, the critic score and the audience score measure different things. Critics' reviews are collected before and around release, while the Popcornmeter reflects ratings from people who have seen the film. Box-office figures, by contrast, count the money from tickets sold on opening weekend, and a film's number of screens can rise or fall in the days that follow.

Waititi has not announced any changes to the film's release plans. Sony's decision to reduce its footprint is the one move on the calendar.