Love can take you to unexpected places…

While only the second feature from young Akash Sherman; Clara shows some genuine potential that manages to elevate a sweet and simple story into something genuinely more memorable.

Isaac (Patrick J Adams) is an astronomer that’s consumed with finding life on other planets.  Rather than take his friends advice to deal with the recent tragedy in his life, he dives deeper into his quest.  After meeting an artist named Clara (Troian Bellisario) who shares his passion for space in her art, she joins him as his research assistant in hopes of making a monumental discovery.  While they both are seekers of knowledge and experience, they both have a very different process.  As Isaac clings to the rational and quantifiable, Clara pushes him to see more and as time goes on and the two become closer Isaac puts more at risk then his research when he struggles to see what’s been in front of him all along.

Admittedly Clara isn’t without the occasional moment of schmaltz but Akash Sherman shows off a genuine sense of style and assuredness in his storytelling method.

Clara looks amazing (especially on an indie Canadian budget) and manages to craft a unique atmosphere for these characters to live in.  Both Adams and Bellisario carry the material with ease thanks to their great chemistry which allows the film to rise above its clumsier moments.

Clara isn’t perfect, but it’s so genuinely sweet that it can’t help but warm your heart.