Taika Waititi has some strong words for critics who panned his latest movie with Jenna Ortega. The Oscar-winning director took to Instagram to dismiss negative reviews of the latest sci-fi release and defend the film’s reception among audiences.
Taika Waititi slams critics’ reviews on Klara and the Sun
Taika Waititi took to Instagram on Saturday to slam critics over negative reviews of his latest film, Klara and the Sun. The Oscar-winning director shared a poster highlighting the film’s 78% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. He contrasted that figure with the 26% Tomatometer critic score the film currently holds.
“I haven’t read a review of anything aimed at me or my peers in almost 15 years,” Waititi wrote. “But I do listen to the people.” He then took a sharp jab at his detractors in the same post.
“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,” he added. He concluded with single-word dismissals: “Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin.”
Waititi also claimed critics had similarly rejected his Oscar-winning film Jojo Rabbit. However, that film holds an 81% critic score and a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Klara and the Sun remains Waititi’s lowest-ever Tomatometer score by a significant margin.
The film, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 dystopian novel, stars Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams. Critics described it as “listless,” “uneven,” and lacking the novel’s depth after its October 23 debut. Ortega separately told Vogue she avoids reading reviews entirely. “That would send me into a psychosis of some sort,” she said.
Beyond poor reviews, the film also struggled commercially. It earned just $720,000 from 880 locations during its opening weekend. Sony then scaled back the film’s limited theatrical footprint. Klara and the Sun collected only $145,000 in its second weekend. Its total domestic gross currently sits at $1.1 million against a reported $20 million budget.
