Rental Family Review: Brendan Fraser Shines in a Warm, Offbeat Drama About Loneliness and Connection

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 Stars)

Rental Family

Directed by Hikari

Written by Hikari

Starring Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Akira Emoto, Mari Yamamoto

Release Date November 21st, 2025

A Surreal Funeral, an Unexpected Job, and the Start of Something Strange

Rental Family begins with a scene that perfectly captures the film’s tone — darkly comic, quietly emotional, and just strange enough to make you lean in closer. Phillip (Brendan Fraser), a struggling actor living in Japan, shows up late for what he believes is a paying gig. Instead, he walks in on a funeral with no cameras, no director, and no crew. Just a woman delivering a eulogy… and the man in the coffin suddenly sitting up to smile at her.

What starts as surreal humor becomes unexpectedly poignant when Phillip learns the truth: the funeral was staged by Shinji (Takehiro Hira) for a lonely man who hired actors to mourn him so he could feel loved, even briefly.

This, Phillip quickly discovers, is the world of Rental Family—a service where people hire actors to fill real emotional roles in their lives.

Brendan Fraser’s Phillip Finds Purpose in Playing Other People’s Realities

Fraser’s Phillip is initially skeptical. Acting is acting, but acting inside someone’s real life? That’s something else entirely. Yet the work begins to open him up in ways he didn’t expect.

A turning point comes when Phillip plays the fake husband of a young gay woman attempting to appease her conservative Japanese parents before moving to Canada to be with her partner. Seeing her relief — and the joy she experiences once reunited with the woman she loves — Phillip begins to understand the emotional value of these constructed scenarios.

From there, Phillip is hired for increasingly intimate roles. One of the most touching involves playing a magazine reporter interviewing an aging actor, Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto), whose daughter worries he’s slipping away unnoticed. The two men form a bond so genuine that Hasegawa confides in Phillip more than he ever has in his own family.

These quiet grace notes are where Rental Family shines, offering small, tender moments that slowly build into something meaningful.

A Fake Fatherhood That Hits Painfully Close to the Heart

The most emotional storyline involves Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), a smart, spirited nine-year-old whose mother hires Phillip to pose as the father Mia never knew. To get Mia into a highly selective private school, the admissions board insists on interviewing both parents. With no father in the picture, Phillip steps into the role.

Phillip has never had children. He has lived in Japan for years, once famous for a toothpaste commercial but long past his peak. Suddenly he’s playing dad—awkwardly, then affectionately, then with a growing sense of responsibility he never expected.

Fraser is wonderful in these scenes. He brings a warmth and vulnerability that remind us why so many people fell in love with him decades ago, and why his return in The Whale felt so triumphant. His big-kid charm meshes beautifully with Gorman’s natural, grounded performance. She embodies Mia with honesty and fire, and their gentle bond becomes the film’s emotional center.

You can feel Fraser’s joy in their shared scenes — and you can feel the dread creeping behind his eyes, knowing this can’t last forever.

Hikari’s Direction Finds Humanity Inside a Strange Concept

Hikari, whose work may be new to many viewers, directs Rental Family with a light touch and a deep well of compassion. The “rental family” concept is real in Japan, born from a profound loneliness crisis, and while the script takes creative liberties, the emotional truth rings clear.

People want connection. They want to be seen. They want someone — even temporarily — to fill spaces in their lives that feel unbearably empty.

Hikari finds surprising spiritual undertones in Phillip’s journey, particularly through his friendship with Hasegawa. The film suggests that meaning can appear in the oddest corners of life, that even artificial relationships can teach us something real.

A Small but Beautiful Film With a Big Emotional Payoff

Rental Family isn’t a heavy awards-season drama, and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s smaller, softer, and stranger — but also warmer and more accessible. It earns its laughs and its tears honestly.

Brendan Fraser delivers one of his most tender, likable performances in years. The supporting cast — especially Gorman, Hira, and Emoto — enrich the film with depth and humanity. And Hikari’s direction elevates what could have been quirky or twee into something heartfelt, moving, and genuinely resonant.

Rental Family is a gentle crowd-pleaser with soul, humor, and heart — a film about loneliness that feels anything but lonely.

Tags

Brendan Fraser, Rental Family Review, Hikari, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, 2025 Movies, Japanese Cinema, Drama Movies 2025, Vocal Movie Review, Film Criticism, Movie Analysis, Emotional Drama, Loneliness in Film, Parenting in Film