A kind, lonely actor receives unique work from a strange but well-meaning agency in this new dramedy starring Brendan Fraser.
In Hollywood’s ongoing push for diversity among its filmmakers, a fresh crop of Asian female directors have risen to prominence in the film industry, from the auteur Chloe Zhao who won the Best Director Academy Award for Nomadland in 2021, to Celine Song and Lulu Wang, both of whom became A24 regulars after their respective debuts Past Lives and The Farewell. Hikari (real name Mitsuyo Miyazaki) is another name that can be added to that list upon the release of her second film Rental Family, which is a moving and tender examination of all the various ways humanity finds connection in everyday life, while also a sharp criticism of the societal norms of the city in which the movie is based.
That city happens to be Tokyo, Japan, and here resides struggling American actor Phillip Vandarploeg (Brendan Fraser) who is dissatisfied with both the small, nonspeaking roles that he keeps getting, and his lonely home life outside of work, being a gaijin (the Japanese word for foreigner) in a foreign country. After a stint as ‘Sad American’ in a staged funeral, Phillip meets the man behind the event, Shinji Tada (Takehiro Hira), founder of ‘Rental Family’, an agency that sends actors like Kota Nakano (Kimura Bun) and Aiko Nakajima (Mari Yamamoto) to stand-in for roles that ordinary people are looking to fill in their personal lives.
Phillip takes roles as a fill-in husband for a daughter trying to satisfy her parents, a journalist hired by Masami Hasegawa (Sei Matobu) to profile her famous actor father Kikuo (Akira Emoto) dying of Alzheimer’s disease, and Hitomi Kawasaki (Shino Shinozaki), a mother who wants Phillip to pose as the birth father of her daughter Mia (Shannon Gorman) to help her pass a rigorous test that would get her into private school. All goes well until his final sessions are dated, and the sudden ending of the strong connections he’s formed over several weeks threaten Phillip’s happiness and that of his clients, just as he’s feeling fulfilled in his life abroad.
Rental Family is one of the most touching films of the year for a myriad of reasons, but the lightning rod at its emotional center is Brendan Fraser. Since winning the Best Actor Oscar for The Whale in 2023, Fraser has had a career renaissance and that continues with his efforts here which see the actor speak occasional Japanese with authentic candor for a gaijin, while communicating Phillip’s inner sweetness and pain with beautiful nuances, from his natural ability to conjure tears and hold them upon receiving an affectionate gift from Mia to an endearing nonverbal lean forward to tell a confidant he’s actively listening in their private conversation.
The script Hikari co-wrote with Stephen Blahut is another strong aspect of Rental Family. There are many humorous moments in Phillip’s tenure with the titular company that catch him in very funny scenarios, such as when Mia runs away, refusing that he is her father, but Phillip chases after her, but not without telling passers-by, “It’s okay, I know her,” as well as taking Mia to get her fortune told by a woman who doubles as an escort Phillip calls from time to time, and a moment where he accidentally doesn’t heed a warning from Masami and asks Kikuo about one of his more disastrous films.
But Hikari and Blahut’s writing also adds thematic depth and heart by using Asian spiritual beliefs to move the story forward, such as an instance where Kikuo-san cites an ancient proverb suggesting that God exists in all things, and that men pray to become something bigger than themselves. Meanwhile, Hikari displays a refined storytelling aesthetic in Rental Family, visualizing Phillip’s isolation and loneliness very well in wide shots of his apartment complex.
Hikari also forms the city of Tokyo itself into a character in Rental Family through frequent cutaway exteriors of various locations within the iconic metropolis and its outskirts depending on where Phillip travels, with the intention of both celebrating the metropolis for its beauty, flourishing economy, high population and cultural elements while also criticizing its societal standards that prioritize hard work over any sort of human connection with time lapses in its business district, where crosswalks are constantly packed with people going to and from work.
It’s also worth noting that the music from Sigur Ros lead singer Jonsi and frequent collaborator Alex Somers helps ascend the movie’s tenderness to an ethereal level with a lovely score that combines delicate strings, ambient bass and the use of voice as an instrument to create a gorgeous sound that helps the movie soar aurally. There are some pacing issues within Phillip’s character arc toward the film’s conclusion, but regardless of that, Rental Family is one of the funniest, loveliest, and best films of the year, and one that will move audiences and encourage finding their own fulfillment by connection in current relationships, and new, faraway places.