Rental Family Review – Entertaining, A Charming Family Friendly Film

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Category: Haute This Issue

Published on Monday, 17 November 2025 11:32

Written by Janet Walker

Rental Family, which recently screened at the AFI FEST, from Searchlight Pictures, presents a delightfully heartwarming, feel good, comedic drama, as an unemployed actor in modern Tokyo is sent on a gig that changes his life.

The film begins with Phillip, played by Brendan Fraser, an ex-pat actor living in Tokyo, and like all actors, he was hustling to find work, running to auditions, booking humiliating but successful national commercials. Spending most of his time stressed about work. Even as his agent was dedicated, she makes it clear the market is changing. However, she explains she did book a gig that pays well.

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Soon after, he is sent to meet with the "rental family" agency owner, Shinji Tada, played by Takehire Hira, who explains what they do is play roles in the client's life, to spend time, fill a void, become a surrogate friend, and the reason they want to hire Phillip is they need a token white guy.

That night as Phillip retreats to his very small studio apartment, he stands on the balcony and looks into the lives of his neighbors, a couple, newlyweds preparing for a baby, an old man alone, lovers fighting, families each struggling with the unknown. The solitude of the moment, and the lack of human connectiveness, save his own rental family, causes him to reconsider.

The next day he arrives late to the funeral of a stranger, although as part of the gig, he is there as a friend of the deceased. He meets up with Shinji after and agrees to be a part of this emotional balm, even if it is a charade that provides healing for the hurting.

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The second gig is more challenging as he is an active participant, the groom in a fake wedding. Understanding the customs and traditions of another country can be daunting, and we begin to realize that what we take for granted, our freedom to talk about issues, can be stigmatizing in other countries.

The day of the wedding arrives, and Phillip is dealing with a bad case of cold feet, even though the wedding is fake. Shinji and his staff, Aiko, played by Mari Maramoto, and Koto, played by Kimura Bun, are searching the venue until Aiko finds him in the men's room, sweating. She finally manages to wrestle him into honoring his commitment. It isn't until later that we understand why Yoshie, played by Misato Morita, would pay an agency to stage a fake wedding, as she embraces her wife, Jun, played by Nanami Kawakami.

Once he is no longer a struggling actor, as the pay for participating in the rental family is quite good, he begins to book multiple gigs. He plays the stand in friend, playing X-box, and helping a recluse venture outside his home into the real world. Suddenly, he is booked for two gigs, one a stand-in father for a child, Mia, played by Shannon Gorman, and a journalist interested in interviewing the Japanese artist and scholar, Kikuo Hasegawa, played by Akira Emoto.

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For Phillip, the lines between reality and the roles he is playing soon begin to intertwine and he is drawn into the client's lives, genuinely wanting to be a fatherly role model for his pretend daughter who is emotionally wounded, already, from the realities of life. He enjoys being a Saturday dad and begins to invest time with her. As the goal is set by the client, when she ends the contract, Phillip is faced with the loss and more, he is deeply convicted over what he believes is further injury to Mia. So, he makes up another story, adding to pretense, and the gig, which rips like a band aid, is over.

During this time, he is finding real human connection during his time with Kikuo, a Japanese treasure, who has lived many lives, a young man, a father, an artist, an old man, and now reconciling himself to the inevitable.  He continues to push Phillip to take him on his last great adventure, a return to his boyhood home, and even as suffers from dementia, Phillip agrees.

Soon the gigs are filling needs in his own life, being a father and having one. Through each he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.

This sets up the inspiring and uplifting final act.

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A gratifying and emotional film, Rental Family highlights how the fast paced contemporary world has severed real human connections and while we want advancement, we cling to customs and traditions that do more to separate us that bind us together.

The cast is delightful, appealing and charming as we are treated to the living room vacation through the intimacies of life in modern Tokyo, as seen and lived through each of our characters, who capture each nuance, shade and subtlety. Especially when the film is seen by audiences in other countries, the genuine performances leap from the screen and are very relatable, proving that the human connection is universal.

Heartfelt and affecting Rental Family, opens exclusively in theaters November 21, 2025. See it.

Country: Japan.

Language: Japanese with English subtitles, English.

Runtime: 103 minutes.

Director: Hikari.

Producer: Hikari, Eddie Vaisman, Shin Yamaguchi.

Executive Producer: Stephen Blahut, Breandan Fraser, Leonid Lebedev, Oren Moverman, Jennifer Semler.

Writer: Hikari, Stephen Blahut.

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Shinji Tada, Mari Yamamoto, Takehire Hira, Akira Emoto, Shannon Gorman, Kimura Bun, Misato Morita, Daikichi Sugawara, Hideko Hara, Nanami Kawakami, Shino Shinozaki, Masayuki Shida, Sei Matobu, Giiko, Rihito Tachibana, Haru Naito, Sosuke Yoshida, Rikuto Ishizuka, Kiyoko Nishimura, Michiko Aoki, Kenta Imanishi, Yoko Yazawa, Mayu Ozawa, Masanori Iwasaki, Masakazu Saiga, Ryuta Kimura, Kenji Kishida, Moeko Koyama.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.