Rental Family (2025) Searchlight/Comedy-Drama RT: 110 minutes Rated PG-13 (thematic elements, some strong language, suggestive material) Director: Hikari Screenplay: Hikari and Stephen Blahut Music: Jonsi and Alex Somers Cinematography: Takuro Ishizaka Release date: November 21, 2025 (US) Cast: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, Akira Emoto, Shino Shinozaki, Kimura Bun, Tamae Ando, Misato Morita, Sei Matobu, Yuka Itaya, Hinata Kaizu.
Rating: *** ½
Brendan Fraser is one of the more interesting actors out there. It’s his versatility, his willingness to try his hand at different types of roles be it the goofball (Encino Man, George of the Jungle), action hero (the Mummy trilogy) or dramatic lead (School Ties, Gods and Monsters). He does it all and does it very well.
Brendan earned an Oscar for his heartbreaking performance as a morbidly obese recluse in The Whale. He could possibly be up for another for his role in Rental Family, a gentle melancholic dramedy from Japanese writer-director Hikari (37 Seconds). He delivers another knockout performance, this time as an American actor living in Japan. You might say he’s spiritual kin to Bill Murray’s character in Sofia Coppola’s wonderful Lost in Translation.
Phillip Vandarploeug struggles to find work in his profession. His most prominent role to date is starring in a silly toothpaste commercial. He’s been living in Japan for seven years and still feels like an outsider. A gig as a “sad American” at a fake funeral leads him to a rental family service, an outfit that provides stand-ins for whatever clients need be it a romantic partner, best friend or estranged family member. Although he doesn’t fully understand or appreciate what they do, Phillip signs on with them. It’s not like he’s weighing other job offers.
The actor’s first gig is playing the Canadian groom at a wedding for a woman who doesn’t want to shame her family for being true to herself. After that, Phillip takes on two major clients. One is Kikuo Hasegawa (Emoto, Shoplifters), a retired and all but forgotten actor suffering from Alzheimer’s. Phillip plays a journalist doing a piece about his long career. The other is Mia (Gorman), an 11YO girl whose mother (Shinozaki) hires him to play the father she’s never met. It’s a temporary gig; she just needs his help getting the girl into a prestigious school.
Even though he’s not supposed to, Phillip becomes attached to both. He starts to care. This is especially true with Mia who bonds with him after some initial resistance. This is where Rental Family is at its strongest. At its heart, the film is about loneliness and the desire for human connection. The American is alone in a country still foreign to him even though he’s been there long enough to become fluent in the spoken language. Most nights, he sits alone in his depressing apartment watching his neighbors through their windows. The physical distance between Phillip and his neighbors matches his emotional distance from others.
Phillip isn’t the only lonely soul in Rental Family. Everybody is to some extent. Company owner Shinji (Hira, Gran Turismo) goes home every night to a wife and son who aren’t what they seem. Female colleague Aiko (Yamamoto, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters) does the more challenging jobs like playing the mistresses of cheating husbands, apologizing to the wives for causing their spouses’ infidelity. The company’s other employee (Bun, The Naked Director) seemingly has no life outside the workplace. The feeling of disconnect among the characters is both sad and palpable.
Rental Family is excellent. It might even make my Top 10 list at year’s end. Alas, it’s not perfect. There’s a development late in the game that feels out of step with the rest of the movie. Phillip runs into some legal trouble regarding one of the clients. What his co-workers do to get him out of it is something out of a silly comedy movie. Thankfully, Rental Family falls right back into step once the matter is resolved. It doesn’t ruin the movie; it just feels noticeably out of place.
Brendan isn’t the only one who turns in a powerhouse performance. Newcomer Gorman, in her first role ever, makes an astonishing debut as Mia, a somewhat serious kid who gradually lets down her guard as she gets to know “her father”. As an actress, she’s open to anything, a trait that eludes some adults. She imbues her character with strength and vulnerability never once overplaying the “cute kid” card. Yamamoto is also terrific as Aiko, the colleague who initially regards Phillip as a gaijin. She puts up a good front, but clearly suffers from self-esteem issues. She hits all the right character beats. Hira is equally great as the boss who sees his clients as cases rather than people. He keeps warning Phillip not to let it get personal. He too is in for an emotional awakening.
Shot in soft colors by cinematographer Takuro Ishizaka, Rental Family is both visually and emotionally beautiful. It’s sad at times, but never morose. It’s even humorous at times. That toothpaste commercial is really something. Hikari, who co-wrote the screenplay with Stephen Blahut, makes us care about the characters. It’s brilliant how he keeps his focus on the human characters instead of the clash between Western and Eastern cultures. It comes up a few times, but Rental Family isn’t about that. It’s about lonely people looking to connect in a world that feels more and more disconnected. It’s beautiful and brilliant.
