The plot centers around the eponymous Klara (Jenna Ortega), an Artificial Friend (AF) existing in a dystopian society where, following World War III, there is no internet. Children and young people are isolated and lack social skills, so parents with means purchase AFs to be their companions. Klara is an unusually observant AF who worships the sun; seeing as the robots are solar-powered, it is regarded as a life-giving entity. An older B1 model competing with humorously Calvin Klein-esque B3s (the latest iteration), Klara’s hope of finding a home is diminishing, until Josie Arthur (Mia Tharia), a young girl with a serious illness, convinces her forbidding mother, Chrissie (Amy Adams), to purchase Klara.
Once settled into the Arthur’s sprawling prairie home, Klara learns the extent of the family’s tragedies and becomes determined to find a way to heal Josie, ultimately making a bargain with the sun in exchange for Josie’s life. Meanwhile, Chrissie has schemes of her own that are far more sinister than Klara’s pilgrimages to the sun’s “house,” a barn at the end of the wheat field where it sets every night.
