Taika Waititi is lashing out at critics following the poor reviews and disappointing theatrical performance of Klara and the Sun, dismissing reviewers as failed artists whose opinions no longer matter.
The director’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel has received more favorable ratings from audiences. However, that enthusiasm has yet to translate into substantial ticket sales, complicating his attempt to frame the reception as another disconnect between critics and moviegoers.
Filmmakers have every right to challenge reviews. But Waititi’s response attacks the people writing them without addressing their objections to his film.
Waititi Dismisses Critics As Failed Artists
According to TheWrap, Waititi responded to the negative reception in an October 31 Instagram post. He maintained that he has avoided reading reviews concerning himself or his peers for nearly 15 years, while emphasizing that he listens to audiences.
His Halloween message nevertheless took direct aim at reviewers, describing them as people who “couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus settled, and became critics.”
He concluded: “Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin.”
Director Taika Waititi attends the Love and Thunder World Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Thursday, June 23, 2022.
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Alongside his statement, Waititi shared an image highlighting the film’s more favorable Rotten Tomatoes audience score. At the time of this writing, Klara and the Sun holds a 24% critics’ score and a 74% audience score.
Critics do not speak for everyone, and viewers who enjoyed the film have no obligation to reconsider their reactions because professional reviewers disagreed.
However, favorable audience ratings do not establish that negative reviews were written out of professional resentment. Viewers can also enjoy a movie while recognizing merit in criticism of it.
Better Audience Ratings Have Not Prevented A Flop
Entertainment Weekly reports that the October 23 release opened to just $720,000 from 880 locations, followed by approximately $145,000 in its second weekend. Its domestic total stood at roughly $1.1 million against a reported $20 million production budget.
Sony also reportedly removed the film’s planned October 30 Spanish theatrical release from its calendar following the weak domestic opening, with no replacement date announced.
Mia Tharia, Jenna Ortega, and Amy Adams in Klara and the Sun – Sony Pictures Entertainment, YouTube
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Those figures suggest that favorable audience ratings have generated little theatrical momentum.
They also illustrate the limits of using review aggregators to claim broad public approval. Audience scores reflect the opinions of participating viewers, while box-office returns measure spending. A film can satisfy those who see it while struggling to attract a commercially sustainable audience.
Waititi also invoked Jojo Rabbit as another film critics supposedly rejected. However, EW notes that his Oscar-winning adaptation holds an 81% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, weakening that comparison.
Some critics disliking an earlier film hardly establishes that the profession collectively failed to appreciate it.
Reviews Questioned His Approach To The Material
As That Park Place previously reported, Klara and the Sun follows an artificial companion in a future where families purchase such beings for their children. Jenna Ortega leads a cast that includes Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Steve Buscemi, and Natasha Lyonne.
Several early reviews questioned whether Waititi’s familiar comedic approach suited Ishiguro’s material. Their objections concerned the adaptation’s tone, emotional substance, and handling of the novel’s ideas.
Jenna Ortega in Klara and the Sun – Sony
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Some reviewers praised Ortega while remaining disappointed with the surrounding film. An assessment can recognize an individual performance and still find the overall production unsuccessful.
These objections give Waititi specific arguments to challenge. Speculating about why someone became a critic does not explain why that person’s assessment of his filmmaking is mistaken.
Waititi’s Response Leaves The Criticism Unanswered
There is an obvious tension in declaring critics irrelevant while devoting a public post to attacking them. Waititi may avoid reading individual reviews, but their collective verdict apparently still warrants his attention.
His appeal to audiences also leaves an unanswered question: What does their more favorable response demonstrate? It shows that many participating viewers enjoyed the film. It neither invalidates the negative reviews nor changes the disappointing commercial results.
Director Taika Waititi on the set of Marvel Studios‘ THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Photo by Jasin Boland. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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Waititi is entitled to defend his creative choices, just as audiences are entitled to enjoy the result. Critics can be unfair, shallow, or mistaken, and their arguments deserve scrutiny.
But calling reviewers failed artists offers little insight into the decisions behind Klara and the Sun. It leaves their objections unanswered and turns a discussion of the adaptation’s merits into an attack on the people disappointed by it.
Do you think Waititi has a fair complaint about film critics, or is he avoiding legitimate criticism? Sound off and let us know!
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