Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Klara and the Sun.Taika Waititi’s dystopian sci-fi film <em>Klara and the Sun</em> has finally arrived in theaters, and although reviews of the movie haven’t quite been glowing, and the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes scores are far from favorable (currently, the critic score is a bleak 24%, and audience scores haven’t yet been calculated), it is nevertheless a fascinating narrative with plenty of twists and turns. The movie centers on the titular lead, Klara (Jenna Ortega), who is an AI built to become a friend to the teen who chooses her—referred to as an “Artificial Friend” (AF) in the film.

Ultimately, that teen ends up being a young girl named Josie (Mia Tharia), whose mother Chrissy (Amy Adams) begrudgingly buys Klara despite her many weird quirks, from frequently suddenly standing on one leg to her obsession with the sun and myriad other oddities. At first, it seems like Klara is simply there to be a friend to Josie, who immediately comes off as a lonely character, especially once it’s revealed that her older sister died when she was young. Ultimately, though, something much more nefarious is confirmed to be afoot.

Specifically, Chrissy previously had Josie undergo a procedure to make her “lifted,” meaning that she has essentially had surgery to make her a genius. Unfortunately for both Josie and Chrissy, this procedure went terribly wrong, and Josie has been left with a life-threatening condition as a result. Even that isn’t as dark as this movie goes, though, as it’s eventually also revealed that, driven by grief and fear of losing another daughter, Chrissy was making a desperate attempt to recreate an AI of her daughter using Klara. Here’s everything you need to know about this unpredictable, plot twist-filled ending.

What Really Happened To Josie In Klara And The Sun Explained

Throughout Klara and the Sun, Josie’s condition gets considerably worse. Initially, Klara is shocked to find out that Josie is seriously ill at all, as she just seems like a typical kid at first. Over time, though, Josie’s symptoms worsen considerably, at one point with blood pouring out of Josie’s nose just before she passes out and hits the ground. For most of the movie, Klara nevertheless remains convinced that her friend will be fine.

In fact, fueled by her belief that the sun will save Josie and hear, effectively, her prayers, Klara goes to great lengths to get the sun to help them. Klara actually almost dies in the process (or ‘dies’ as much as an AI can), as she believes that the only way to have the sun truly bless Josie is to destroy a machine that she thinks is blocking out the sunlight. To do so, she stabs her own neck, dripping the highly flammable substance within her—that also keeps her ‘alive’—over the machine to blow it up.

Ultimately, of course, the sun does not actually have the ability to save Josie’s life. However, Klara and the Sun does conclude with some ambiguity regarding what truly happened to Josie. Klara firmly believes that her friend survived and got better in the end and that she left and went, seemingly, away to school. Yet, Klara becomes the ultimate unreliable narrator by the end of the movie, especially because the incident involving her stabbing herself left her even more discombobulated than she already was.

For that reason, when another AF casts doubt on Klara’s belief about Josie, suggesting that Klara is silly to think that her friend isn’t dead, the audience is left needing to make that determination for themselves.

Where Does Klara Go At The End Of Klara And The Sun?

While Josie’s ending in Klara and the Sun is fairly ambiguous, Klara’s is not. The final few scenes of the movie see Klara deteriorating, with Chrissy eventually suggesting that it was time for her to move on. Right at the end of the movie, it is revealed that Klara has reconnected with the other AFs that she had once been with in the store before Josie bought her, and they have formed a little group on the beach, apparently all ‘retired’ from their roles as AFs.

Retired might actually be the operative word here, as this conclusion seems like a combination of retirement and death for an AF (although viewers previously saw an actual AI death with Scarecrow). It’s certainly better than Klara getting torn apart or having a traumatic death like Scarecrows or simply wasting away somewhere for that matter, but it still doesn’t seem like a very happy ending either.

Klara’s mind evidently never fully recovered from the incident with the machine, and she seems a bit lost at sea mentally. Sadly, she also clearly doesn’t end up staying with Josie if the latter is alive, although this conclusion to Klara’s story also means that Chrissy never followed through on her original and honestly pretty disturbing plan for both Josie and Klara.

Chrissy’s Original Plan For Josie (And Klara)

Although Chrissy does try to drown Klara at one point in what actually ends up being a pretty hilarious scene, she is definitely not a villainous character in this movie. She’s a grieving mother who is making some terrible morally questionable (at best) choices out of desperation not to lose her only surviving daughter. Where that leads her though is down a very disturbing path wherein she has hired a scientist to create an AI version of Josie.

This isn’t meant to be just any AI though. Chrissy wants to use Klara to fully become Josie taking on her personality and voice while donning a body that looks just like Josie. That plan is ultimately thwarted however long before the end of the movie suggests Josie may actually have died. Rather while visiting the facility where this AI body is being kept both Klara and Josie discover the truth and Josie understandably lashes out at her mother horrified.

Klara and the Sun really only revisits this when Chrissy and Josie discuss this shocking plan and Chrissy insists she never intended to replace Josie but it’s clear that this plan was ultimately abandoned either because Josie actually lived or because she died but Klara went off with other AFs rather than becoming new robotic Josie.

Does Klara And The Sun Set Up A Sequel?

Klara and thе Sun obviously covers quite a bit of ground which might understandably raise questions about a potential sequel. As it stands though a sequel seems incredibly unlikely. For one thе movie feels very self-contained particularly considering thаt Клара is no longer with Jоsie аnd seems tо be experiencing thе end оf hеr ‘life’ with thе other AFs. Narratively it therefore wouldn’t really make sense for thе story tо continue in а sequel movie. This film is also based on thе book аnd thаt story had no sequel although thаt doesn’t necessarily mean thе movie has tо follow suit.

Perhaps most significant is actually thе movie’s reception though. If thе aforementioned Rotten Tomatoes scores are any indication then Klara аnd thе Sun is far from а smash hit so it therefore seems incredibly unlikely thаt any sort оf sequel will follow.