Rental Family from director HIKARI and first time screenwriter Stephen Blahut is exactly what I hoped it would be. It’s a sentimental, touching story without being saccharine. It’s also predictable and comforting without being boring. Most importantly, it’s a gorgeous, quiet little movie rich in big ideas. This is a human story about loneliness, connecting with others, and what any of us want and need from one another.
The premise of Rental Family sounds preposterous but completely works. A wonderful, charming, sad Brendan Fraser plays struggling American actor Phillip Vandarpleog. He’s lived in Japan for seven years and is only really known for playing a superhero-like tube of toothpaste in a commercial. He books a fulltime gig, reluctantly agreeing to work for the company that gives the film its name. It’s a small, strange little operation. People hire them out to create scenarios (a concept introduced in a truly delightful way) where they can live out fantasies or have someone play a role in their life.
There are obvious moral, ethical, and logical problems raised by such an operation. But Rental Family’s owner Shinji (Takehiro Hira) and his more dedicated (of two) employees, Aiko (Mari Yamamoto), explain away these issues to their “token white guy” by saying he will never fully understand Japan and its people. Therefore he will never fully understand why this actually makes sense and helps people.
It’s not a hand-wave. It lets American audiences know that, like Phillip, we are the outsiders here, and our views of the world are exactly that, ours. This is works in the moment as a plot point. It proves especially effective and powerful later when it ties into the film’s themes, because Phillip is both wrong and right about this company.
Phillip plays a myriad of roles. He works as someone’s husband, another’s friend, and as a journalist. Some of the customers know they’re paying an actor. Some don’t because their own family members hired him. That’s especially problematic when a single mom has Phillip pretend to be her adorable daughter Miya’s long-lost father. Phillip can recognize why this is a really bad idea but commits to the role. As with his other Rental Family parts, the lonely Phillip starts to have a real connection with Miya. He’s also really good at pretending to be a dad, an element of the story enriched in small but meaningful ways by his own story.
Ultimately, the film, which also explores the value in even pretending to care about people, goes everywhere you expect when Phillip can’t help but do his job too well. He comes to really care for his clients and wants to help them after he sees their individual humanity and all the failings that comes with being a person. That inevitably leads to all the problems the audience can see coming. But every moment and plot point feels completely earned. Everything makes sense so the story never feels trite.
It also never feels sappy. That, as much as anything, is why this film works. Because while this is ultimately a beautiful, humanist story, it’s underpinned by a real sadness. It’s a sadness the film doesn’t shy away from. The people who work for Rental Family are just like their customers: lonely. They crave the same human connection as the people who hire them. The fact so many people can’t achieve a meaningful connection without paying someone to pretend to care is inherently bleak. But that’s why the movie is ultimately hopeful. We are connected by our shared experiences, and loneliness is universal. Until it’s not. And when someone like Phillip makes the effort to truly care, not because he’s paid to care but because he genuinely does, it’s so wonderful I found it overwhelming.
Rental Family isn’t perfect. A few sequences feel as though they are missing a scene or two of development. But that’s a small quibble since it does everything well. Fraser, whose hangdog eyes and natural warmth make him perfect for the role, leads a fantastic cast. (I like everyone in this movie.) Yamamoto’s Aiko is especially great. She’s utterly fantastic. As is Akira Emoto as Kikuo Hasegawa, an elderly actor afraid the world has forgotten him. His relationship with Fraser’s pretend journalist is the best surprise of the film. Their time together ends up being just as important (if not more) than Phillip’s moving relationship with Mia.
I love Rental Family‘s script, HIKARI’s direction, its sense of place, and its cast. But what I love most is that it has something to say about what it means to be a person. It’s a gorgeous story about what we need from others. Our hearts and souls need to know someone knows we are here and that, no matter how small our presence in this giant world might seem, we matter because we are a part of it.
We all just want to be seen. This movie fundamentally understands, with clear eyes, why that’s true of all of us, no matter our age, our experiences, or where we come from. And for that reason you should see Rental Family.
⭐ (4 of 5)
Rental Family comes to theaters November 21, 2025.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
The post RENTAL FAMILY Is a Beautiful Story About Being Seen (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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