 |
| Where Was Klara and the Sun Filmed? All New Zealand Filming Locations Revealed. |
Where was Klara and the Sun filmed? The 2026 science-fiction film starring Jenna Ortega brings its imagined near-future America to life through New Zealand’s sweeping countryside, dramatic mountain roads and urban streets. Directed by Taika Waititi, the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed novel uses these contrasting environments to create a world that looks familiar at first glance but feels distinctly different from our own.
From Wānaka’s sunlit landscapes to Auckland’s city streets, the production combines real-world scenery with carefully constructed sets. Here’s a closer look at the filming locations associated with Klara and the Sun, including the places that help explain the film’s distinctive visual identity. Just remember that a film set is not automatically a tourist attraction, and a little respect for private property goes a long way.
Principal photography reportedly began in February 2024 and wrapped in April 2024, with production operating under the working title Tears and Rain. New Zealand provided the setting for the production, with locations across the South Island and North Island helping create the film’s fictional American landscape. However, individual filming addresses and access arrangements are not always publicly disclosed, so travellers should check local access rules before planning a dedicated visit.
Wānaka, in the Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island, is one of the key locations associated with the film’s rural setting. Known for its alpine scenery, open landscapes and relaxed lakeside atmosphere, the town offers the sort of expansive surroundings that work beautifully for a story centred on sunlight, companionship and the relationship between humans and technology.
The landscape provides a striking contrast to the film’s more controlled urban environments, giving the fictional world room to breathe. For visitors, Wānaka is also a destination in its own right, with outdoor activities, mountain views and a waterfront that can easily fill an entire holiday. You might arrive hoping to recognise a particular scene and leave wondering why you do not live beside a lake. An understandable career reconsideration, really.
Silverlight Studios, near Wānaka Airport, is associated with the production’s large-scale rural setting. The studio occupies an extensive site designed for film and television work, making it suitable for building environments that would be difficult to capture in an ordinary residential location. Production descriptions refer to a substantial field setting created to represent the area around Josie’s family home, combining agricultural scenery with a carefully designed architectural environment.
This approach helps explain how a fictional American home can appear convincingly isolated while being constructed in New Zealand. However, a purpose-built set should not be confused with an established tourist landmark. Studio access may be restricted, and visitors should not assume that the original structures remain in place. The sensible option is to admire the wider Wānaka landscape from public spaces rather than treating a working production site as an open-air museum.
Wānaka Airport and the surrounding rural road network provide another useful geographical reference for understanding the region’s cinematic appeal. The area combines open land with access to the town and surrounding countryside, making it practical for productions requiring different exterior environments.
Its broad horizons and relatively uncluttered scenery can help a contemporary landscape stand in for a fictional future without filling every frame with digital effects. Travellers exploring the region can also experience the surrounding countryside through established public roads and organised local excursions. There is no need to chase an unidentified film crew or park somewhere questionable for a photograph; the scenery does most of the work without your assistance.
Queenstown, also on New Zealand’s South Island, brings a different visual character to the production’s broader landscape. Surrounded by mountains and Lake Wakatipu, the resort town is known for its dramatic scenery and outdoor tourism. Its rugged terrain provides a useful contrast to Wānaka’s expansive rural atmosphere, particularly for stories that move between isolated homes and more connected urban environments.
Queenstown is also a popular base for exploring Central Otago, with scenic drives, lakeside walks and mountain viewpoints offering plenty to do beyond film-location hunting. For fans of Klara and the Sun, the appeal lies in seeing how New Zealand’s natural environments can suggest a fictional America without losing their own identity. The mountains do not need futuristic architecture to look impressive, which is fortunate because nature remains stubbornly uninterested in production design meetings.
The Crown Range Road, which connects the Wānaka and Queenstown areas, is another important geographical point in the region. The route is known for its winding sections, elevated viewpoints and expansive mountain scenery, making it an attractive setting for productions seeking wide landscape shots and a sense of movement across the countryside.
The changing views along the road provide a visual transition between different environments, from open valleys to steep mountain slopes. Travellers can experience the route as part of a wider South Island road trip, although driving conditions and weather should always take priority over sightseeing ambitions. The road itself is an established scenic route, but that does not mean every recognisable bend or viewpoint appeared in the film. Sometimes a spectacular mountain road is simply a spectacular mountain road, and that is more than enough reason to enjoy it.
Glenorchy, at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, offers another memorable destination within the Queenstown region. Its surrounding valleys, mountain ranges and open landscapes have long made it attractive to visitors looking for dramatic natural scenery. The area’s remote atmosphere can complement a film exploring the divide between technological progress and the natural world.
In a story such as Klara and the Sun, landscapes can do more than provide attractive backgrounds: they can establish a sense of scale and highlight the distance between human ambitions and the environment around them. Glenorchy is worth considering for its walking opportunities, scenic drives and access to the wider wilderness. Visitors should stick to public access points and respect private land. You can enjoy the view without pretending to be a location scout who has just discovered a secret valley.
Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, provides a contrasting urban environment for the film’s more structured settings. Its streets, commercial districts and modern buildings offer a different visual language from the open countryside of the South Island. Auckland is also home to a substantial film and television production industry, making it a practical base for projects that combine location filming with controlled studio work.
For Klara and the Sun, the city’s varied architecture and urban atmosphere suit a story set in a future society where technology has become part of everyday life. Travellers can explore Auckland’s waterfront, neighbourhoods, cultural attractions and dining scene while considering how a real city can be transformed into a fictional one through framing, set dressing and production design. The result is a reminder that cinematic worlds are often assembled from ordinary places made to look extraordinary.
Karangahape Road, commonly known as K Road, is a well-known Auckland street with a distinctive mix of independent shops, restaurants, nightlife venues and historic buildings. Its varied streetscape makes it an interesting location for productions seeking an urban setting with character rather than a row of anonymous glass towers. The street’s commercial premises can also be adapted through signage, window displays and carefully selected visual details to suggest a different time period or fictional society.
This makes K Road an appealing point of interest for visitors interested in Auckland’s creative culture and film industry. However, individual shopfronts should only be described as filming locations when their involvement has been established through reliable production information. The street is worth exploring regardless, and you may find its real-world personality considerably more interesting than a fictional showroom full of robots waiting for someone to buy them.
Auckland’s studio facilities are another important part of the production picture. Controlled soundstages allow filmmakers to build interiors, manage lighting and maintain continuity without worrying about changing weather or members of the public wandering through a carefully arranged scene. For a science-fiction drama involving artificial companions and advanced technology, studio environments can be especially useful for creating a consistent visual style.
Interior rooms, laboratories and other constructed spaces can be designed to match the film’s retro-inspired future, even when the exterior scenes were captured somewhere entirely different. These facilities are generally working production spaces rather than public attractions, so fans should not expect to walk in and find the original sets waiting for photographs. The practical magic of filmmaking is that a convincing fictional home can exist on a soundstage without ever having been a real house.
Beyond these principal geographical areas, Lake Wakatipu offers another destination worth considering when exploring the landscapes of the wider Queenstown region. The lake stretches through a dramatic mountain setting, with Queenstown and Glenorchy providing access to different sections of its shoreline. Its changing light and expansive views make it one of the South Island’s most recognisable natural features.
For a film built around the symbolic importance of sunlight and the contrast between the natural world and human technology, this kind of landscape is an especially fitting point of comparison. However, the lake’s relevance as a regional destination should not be taken as proof that a particular scene was filmed there. Visitors can enjoy boat trips, lakeside walks and mountain views without needing every photograph to match a frame from the film.
Lake Hāwea, north-east of Wānaka, is another worthwhile stop for travellers exploring the wider Otago landscape. The lake is surrounded by mountains and open countryside, offering a quieter alternative to some of the busier tourist areas. Its expansive views and peaceful atmosphere make it a natural addition to a South Island itinerary, especially for anyone interested in the contrast between rural isolation and the increasingly technological world depicted in Klara and the Sun.
The wider region offers plenty of opportunities for scenic drives, photography and outdoor recreation. As with other destinations in this guide, Lake Hāwea should be treated as a related travel recommendation rather than automatically counted as a confirmed filming site. A place does not need a production credit to justify a visit, although a little cinematic association certainly makes the holiday planning more fun.
Ultimately, the appeal of Klara and the Sun’s New Zealand settings comes from the contrast between its familiar natural landscapes and its imagined technological future. Wānaka and the surrounding countryside provide space, light and a sense of isolation, while Queenstown’s mountains and Auckland’s urban streets introduce different visual textures.
Studio construction then allows those real environments to connect with a fictional world shaped by artificial intelligence, social divisions and human relationships. The locations also demonstrate why productions often look beyond the country in which a story is set: the right landscape can create a convincing atmosphere without requiring every scene to be filmed in its supposed real-world setting.
My view is that New Zealand makes a particularly interesting choice for Klara and the Sun because its scenery can feel both reassuringly familiar and slightly otherworldly. The open fields around Wānaka offer a natural counterpoint to the film’s technological themes, while Auckland provides the urban structure needed for a society that has become increasingly dependent on artificial companions. Queenstown and the surrounding mountain roads add visual scale without demanding that every shot be overloaded with futuristic effects.
That restraint is part of the appeal. Science-fiction films sometimes seem convinced that the future must involve endless neon lights, enormous skyscrapers and enough computer-generated machinery to bankrupt a small country. There is something more intriguing about a future that looks almost like our own. The scenery also gives New Zealand a strong presence beyond simply serving as a substitute for America. For fans, the best approach is to enjoy the real destinations, respect restricted areas and avoid confusing a beautiful landscape with a confirmed set location.
The filming locations associated with Klara and the Sun offer plenty of inspiration for a New Zealand trip, from Wānaka’s open countryside to Auckland’s creative streets and the dramatic scenery around Queenstown. Some production details and individual filming addresses may remain undisclosed, so this guide should be treated as a starting point rather than a guarantee that every set can be visited. We will update the article if further location details become publicly available. Which place would you most like to visit, and would you plan an entire New Zealand holiday around your favourite film locations? Share your thoughts and tell us which other movie’s filming locations you want us to explore next.