Rental Family - Review: You Can Choose Your Family

 

There’s something about being kind in the modern film making landscape that seems to have fallen out of style. Blockbusters and television shows are focusing more on crime and despicable individuals or actions, and the idea of being nice to people has been tossed aside. Recently though, with films like “Superman (2025),” there has been a surge of kindness to the mainstream once again. While not a blockbuster itself, “Rental Family” is a film that finds kinship with others like it by taking a look at one of Japan’s most unique industries with a careful and sympathetic eye that is, above all else, kind.

The film follows Phillip Vandarploeug, played by Brendan Fraser (“The Mummy (1999),” “The Whale”), a struggling American actor living in Japan trying to make ends meet. That is until he meets Shinji, played by Takehiro Hira (“Shōgun (2024),” “Gran Turismo (2023)”), the manager of Rental Family Inc., an agency that allows people to rent people to pretend to be friends, family members, lovers, or any other kind of person missing from their lives. Initially reluctant, Phillip takes on the role after the encouragement from fellow Rental Family employee Aiko, played by Mari Yamamoto (“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” “Pachinko”), and soon finds himself taking on the roles of a young woman’s fiancé, a reporter interviewing an aging movie star, and a young girl’s absent father.

While the very concept of the film will likely raise eyebrows, the way co-writer/director Hikari (“37 Seconds,” “Beef”) and co-writer Stephen Blahut approach the material is really admirable. These are actual agencies that exist in Japan and while the film certainly points out some of the more absurd scenarios they’re used for, it's never mocking in any way. More than anything, it's a legitimate dissection of the very concept, of how it can majorly benefit an individual as well as harm them. Hikari’s hand is a deft one, and the film breezes along every as things begin to get more complicated and emotions bubble up. The overwhelming sense of kindness can lead to the film feeling a bit too sugary sweet though. Everything happens in a very specific way that leads the film to feel very “convenient” with many of the plot developments, as if it's skirting over a lot of real-world details to reach the emotional truth it wants to.

Fraser’s performance leads the film and it’s a remarkably honest and vulnerable kind of role. It’s not a difficult or ambitious kind of character, but there’s a deep truth to his arc and the decisions that he makes. Fraser brings a true sense of joy to the role and he’s simply a joy to watch; a big beating heart of a man at the center of an already emotional vulnerable tale. Hira gets more of the sillier bits of the film, but he keeps a gruff exterior allowing him to fill the teacher role to Fraser’s student role without betraying his own arc. Yamamoto is the scene-stealer though, with her sweetly abrasive side playing wonderfully against Fraser’s overt optimism.

No matter your thoughts on the tale, it is a gorgeous looking and sounding film that is a fantastic display of Japan. As opposed to most Hollywood films that stick to the big cities, Hikari and cinematographer Takurô Ishizaka (“Enter the Fat Dragon,” “Tang”) showcase a little bit of everything the country has to offer. From wide vistas and tree-laden countryside to snow-covered mountains overseeing small cities and towns, it's a quietly beautiful film that matches the film’s quietly beautiful score from Jónsi (“How to Train Your Dragon (2010),” “We Bought a Zoo”) and Alex Somers (“Captain Fantastic,” “Nickel Boys”). If nothing else, it’s a calm and beautiful film to sit back and breathe in.

“Rental Family” won't be for everyone based purely on how nice it can be. Some simply won’t be able to get on board with that sense or the central concept itself. But Hikari has crafted a film that is able to deliver on its numerous ambitious by bringing this aspect of Japanese culture to a broader audience. Packed with some great performances, gorgeous camerawork and music, and a sweet and honest script, if a bit convenient, it's an emotional salve of a film. The kind that can easily be described as a nice movie; not in the sense that it's middling or of simply good quality. It’s just a nice movie. 4.5/5