One of the year’s most anticipated literary adaptations reaches theaters today, as Klara and the Sun opens across the United States and the UK from Sony Pictures Releasing, following its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on October 15.

Jenna Ortega stars as Klara, an Artificial Friend — a lifelike android companion purchased for children — who is taken home by Chrissie (Amy Adams) to befriend her sick daughter Josie, played by Mia Tharia. Set in a future where genetic engineering has divided society into strict, isolated classes, the film follows Klara’s unwavering optimism as she tries to heal a grieving family.

The film adapts Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel — the first the Nobel Prize-winning author published after receiving the honor — with director Taika Waititi sharing screenplay credit with Dahvi Waller. Ishiguro serves as an executive producer, and the producing team is led by David Heyman, Garrett Basch and Waititi.

The supporting cast includes Aran Murphy as Josie’s best friend Rick, Natasha Lyonne as the Store Manager, Steve Buscemi as the benefactor Capaldi, and Rachel House as the housekeeper Melania. For Ortega, the relentlessly hopeful Klara marks a deliberate change of pace from her darker breakout roles: “I wanted to do something different,” she told People. “Because this is a very different character from anything I had played before.”

Shot in New Zealand, Klara and the Sun is Waititi’s most dramatic feature to date — and with Ortega and Adams leading it, one of the headline releases of the autumn season.