Taika Waititi brought his Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation to the BFI London Film Festival, with Florence Pugh and Natasha Lyonne on the carpet.
Jenna Ortega plays a robot in Klara and the Sun, but on the red carpet at the BFI London Film Festival she was every inch the movie star. Taika Waititi‘s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro‘s 2021 novel premiered at BFI Southbank on Oct. 15, with Ortega, Amy Adams, Aran Murphy, Natasha Lyonne and Waititi walking the carpet, joined by Florence Pugh and Rita Ora.
The Film
Ortega plays Klara, an Artificial Friend bought to keep company with Josie (Mia Tharia), a sick girl living in a future where genetic engineering has split society into isolated classes. Adams plays Josie’s mother, Chrissie, and Murphy plays Josie’s best friend, Rick. Lyonne, Steve Buscemi, Rachel House, Harry Greenwood and Sophia Bryant-Taukiri round out the cast. Waititi wrote the script with Dahvi Waller, and Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate behind The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, is an executive producer. David Heyman, Garrett Basch and Waititi produced.
It is a change of pace for both its director and its star. Waititi has spent much of the last decade on comedies and Marvel’s Thor films, and Ishiguro’s quiet, melancholy novel is a long way from Thor: Ragnarok. Ortega, best known for Wednesday and the Scream films, steps into literary science fiction for the first time.
A Busy Friday
Sony Pictures Releasing opens Klara and the Sun in theaters on Friday, Oct. 23, after a delay that pushed it off its original slot. That makes for a crowded weekend for one cast member in particular. Buscemi is also in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, which we reviewed at Sundance and which opens in New York and Los Angeles the same day, so he will be on two marquees at once.
Pugh came out to support the film two weeks after premiering East of Eden at New York’s Paris Theater, which we covered in our roundup of the week’s best premieres.
See every look from the London premiere below.
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams, Jenna Ortega and Rachel Foreman
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams, Jenna Ortega and Rachel Foreman attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega
Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Amy Adams
Amy Adams attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Aran Murphy
Aran Murphy attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Rita Ora
Rita Ora attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega
Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman
Florence Pugh and Rachel Foreman attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams, Jenna Ortega and Rachel Foreman
Florence Pugh, Amy Adams, Jenna Ortega and Rachel Foreman attend the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Rachel House
Rachel House attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Mika Simmons
Mika Simmons attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Aran Murphy
Aran Murphy attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Jenna Ortega
Jenna Ortega attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Amy Adams
Amy Adams attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Jack Edwards
Jack Edwards attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
Rachel Foreman
Rachel Foreman attends the Klara and the Sun premiere during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank in London on October 15, 2026.
In Theaters Friday
Klara and the Sun opens in theaters on Friday, Oct. 23, from Sony Pictures Releasing. Watch the official trailer below.
