Directed by Hikari, Rental Family follows a lonely American actor named Phillip Vandarploeug (Brendan Fraser), living in Tokyo who starts working for a Japanese rental family service to play stand-in roles in other people’s lives. Along the way, he finds surprising connections and unexpected joys within his new family.
Brendan Fraser’s phenomenal performance and academy award win from The Whale has given him a well-deserved career comeback, as well as well-deserved recognition that was long overdue. Since then he has gradually begun to get back into starring in various films, such as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and now this small flick from one of the Beef directors. Given my adoration for Fraser and Hikari’s work with Beef, I was absolutely on board with seeing this film ever since it was first announced. After getting the chance to catch it in theaters, I can say that I found myself absolutely in love with this film.
Rental Family is a beautifully wholesome story about making heartfelt connections and bringing joy to others, told through a unique cultural perspective. Japan is known for a lot of special business services that many outside of Japanese culture would consider unusual or unorthodox, though the idea of a service that lets clients hire actors to portray friends, family members, or other people for social events or companionship is admittedly a strange one upon first glance. But this film fully explores the sweet nature of the concept through a compelling character played by a phenomenal actor who gives audiences an emotionally tender tale that will make your heart grow big and appreciate the overwhelming kindness that certain people in the world are willing to give to others.
The cast of this film is small but strong in their performances, giving grand amounts of emotion and humanity to their respective characters, with Brendan Fraser being the one to lead the ensemble as Phillip Vandarploeug. He is a man that has lived in Japan for many years, and while he is not entirely a fish out of water there is still a lot for him to learn about Japanese culture, especially when being a part of the Rental Family service that he finds to be very bizarre at first. Upon taking the job he learns the true purpose of it beyond what some may think of it, which is to make memorable connections with people of all kinds and give them joyful memories they can cherish forever. Through playing roles in others lives he discovers what has been missing in his own life as he has been secretly wanting connections with other people for a long time.
Fraser brings phenomenal emotional tenderness to the role of Phillip, making for a really wholesome character that you can feel attached to as he goes above and beyond to help different people that change him for the better in return. I had no doubt that he was going to bring a lot of heart to this role but what I didn’t expect was for him to be so damn fluent at speaking Japanese for a majority of the film. In most culture clash films, the token white guy is usually speaking English the entire time, despite supposedly living in a specific country for so many years, but for once we have a character that actually speaks the native language of the country he lives in for a majority of the film and does supremely well without coming off as fake. Fraser truly dedicated himself to this performance, making me admire and adore him even more.
The ensemble cast he gets to interact with in this film all deliver incredible performances and share wonderful chemistry with Fraser, with the most significant among them being Shannon Mahina Gorman as Mia Kawasaki, a young girl in need of a father figure, and Akira Emoto as Kikuo Hasegawa, a Rental Family client and retired actor. Phillip has the greatest challenge of pretending to be the real father of this rebellious young girl but soon you see a truly genuine and beautiful connection blossom between them over the course of the film that you can’t help but love. Shannon Mahina Gorman’s performance truly tugs at the heart strings and her chemistry with Fraser really moves you even when they aren’t a real father and daughter duo.
Then you have Phillip’s friendship with Kikuo that is also incredibly moving due to the magnificent combination of Akira Emoto’s heartfelt performance and Phillip’s willingness to go the distance with him when he asks for a very special request of him. These two share some really special moments together in the film, including one truly heartbreaking scene set in a forest that was performed beautifully by both actors and executed with tender grace.
Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto also play two really well-written characters that have their own interesting arcs in the film that are affected by their experience with Phillip.
The film’s narrative follows some familiar routes and themes seen before in most dramedies, but the difference is how it explores them through the perspective of this unusual Rental Family service and the unique culture it comes from. This agency gives clients the chance to make special memories and connections with people who are paid to bring joy to their lives in various forms, making for a surprisingly wholesome story that highlights how human kindness can go a long way and how people should treasure the relationships they find in unexpected places.
This narrative manages to be naturally heartfelt, funny and emotional despite the fact it is based around a character being paid to play a pretend role in someone’s life. Taking a bizarre concept and turning it into something sweet is something I can really appreciate and it is likely to give people a lot of warm feelings after watching it.
From a technical perspective, this film doesn’t rely on any crazy effects or cinematic styles to make itself look visually appealing but instead relies on the natural beauty of Japan for that, both in the city and the countryside. The film has a grounded indie feel to it but still looks visually gorgeous in every frame and the emotions of the film always feel enhanced by the gorgeous surroundings, whether it be in a cozy apartment or a beautiful forest. The film also features a great score from composers Jónsi and Alex Somers whose music further enhances the wholesome tone of the film as a whole.
Hikari crafted a very special feel-good film that is guaranteed to please anyone who watches it, including Brendan Fraser fans who have wanted to see him in more films. I highly recommend you give this film a go if you have the opportunity to see it in theaters. I’m going to give Rental Family an A = 97.
You can find more of my writing on instagram, and check out my channel on YouTube!