“Rental Family” poses some timely questions about the value of meaningful, face-to-face connection in a world where screen time, the power of conformity and loneliness reign supreme. How far is too far when the lines of real and fake are blurred? What if the pretense becomes the reality?
As one character reminds us, “Sometimes we just need someone to look us in the eye and remind us we exist.”
Hence the concept of the Rental Family, which isn’t just the name of the film; its the name of the business the film is based on. And, it’s a real thing: In Japan, there are services that hire actors to portray friends, family members or colleagues to help with any and every social situation you can imagine. Maybe you need a stand-in groom or a father for parents night. Or maybe it’s as simple as someone to cheer you on at karaoke, or a pal to play video games with. In a country like Japan, where mental health therapies are taboo, the concept seems to fill a much-needed void.
As Phillip Vandarpleog (Brenden Fraser) learns, a gig as a stand-in friend or family member can be quite rewarding. Phillip is something of a has-been American actor working in Tokyo, whose biggest claim to fame is a silly toothpaste commercial. So when he gets an offer to work with the Rental Family company — which pays well, it seems — he gives it a reluctant go.
But he quickly gets embroiled in the real-life entanglements of his clients, in particular a young girl (Shannon Mahina Gorman) to which he plays her long-lost father, and an ailing actor (Akira Emoto) who needs someone to remind him he’s important while his memory fades away.
We also see the dark side of the business, when one of the paid workers (Mari Yamamoto) gets slapped by the wife of a husband, to which she plays the repentant mistress. We also learn more about the business owner, Shinji (Takeohiro Hira) who is convinced he is providing an essential social service…so much so, he uses it himself.
But overall, this film is poignant without the cringe, it flows in love without the saccharine. I walked out charmed, and a little surprised I could get on board with a film where honesty takes a backseat to instant returns. As the young girl says while wandering inside an artistic exhibit in Tokyo, “it’s cool, but it’s fake.” Or is it?
Movie Times: Click here
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Hikari
Actors: Brendan Fraser, Paolo Andrea Di Pietro, Shinji Ozeki, Takao Kin, Risa Kameda
Running Time: 1 hour and 43 minutes
Rating: PG-13
