'Rental Family' Review: Brendan Fraser Charms in Slight, Gentle Drama About Human Connection
Say what you will about The Whale, at least it gave Brendan Fraser back to us, leading movies driven by his timeless charm. In Hikari’s Rental Family, he plays a token white American actor living in Japan, playing his most challenging role yet: a friend. This is another reminder that we don’t deserve him. The film is a humanistic commentary on the strictness of Japanese culture and the dismantling of those systems. However, because of its main character, I also have some reservations about how the nation is depicted as a whole.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
MPA Rating: PG-13 ( For thematic elements, some strong language, and suggestive material.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 50 Minutes
Language: English, Japanese
Production Companies: Sight Unseen Productions, Domo Arigato Productions
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures
Director: Hikari
Writers: Hikari, Stephen Blahut
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, Akira Emoto
U.S Release Date: November 21, 2025
Actor Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser) lives as an expat in Japan. He is struggling to land a new role. A few years prior, he was known as a dental mascot in toothpaste commercials and a few Japanese films. Today, he goes through the motions, depressed and waiting for his next big gig. That’s until, by circumstance, he plays a sad American in an unusual mock funeral gig. The person in charge then employs him at his agency, "Rental Family," where he will play as a stand-in for strangers. Phillip integrates himself into his clients’ lives. In one particular example, he plays a journalist hired to interview a retired actor, Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto), who is on the brink of dementia and has an estranged relationship with his daughter. In another scenario, Phillip portrays a father to a young girl, Mia Kawasaki (Shannon Mahina Gorman), whose mother hires him to help console her so she can get into a specialized school. But because Phillip is a big-feeling guy, he takes these bonds to heart, and the lines between actor and reality start to blur.
Rental Family is powered by Brendan Fraser’s soulful warmth.
Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved
In contrast to Phillip, who can’t seem to fit into any film roles, only Brendan Fraser, who possesses a specific lovable charm, could give Rental Family its wings. He imbues an effortlessly personable, endearing warmth, as he always has across the years. Right away, you sympathize with this down-on-his-luck expat who longs for connection and purpose more so than his next big role. Hikari’s detailed touches – from his cluttered room to him overlooking his neighbors in a Rear Window-inspired scene – instantly got me. Making human connections and friends as an adult is difficult, which is one of the sad realities that hits home. I can’t even imagine doing so as an expat.
Hikari’s solid direction lends itself well to the emotions she explores. She highlights Japan’s natural beauty, portraying and deconstructing contemporary Tokyo as a ghastly dome full of disconnection, while also showcasing its distinctive culture and beauty.
Nevertheless, once Phillip stumbles into this job, Fraser showcases his timeless star power and abilities. Despite Hikari's weakest, overly sentimental story beats, Fraser is as warm as a freshly-baked cookie. Fraser's relationship with his co-stars, particularly the endearing Shannon Mahina Gorman and the genuine Akira Emoto, gives this story of human connection resonance. Also, when Phillip becomes a Rental Family employee, the film adopts an episodic structure. It fluctuates between Phillip being a fake journalist and a friend to the old retired actor, Kikuo, and a faux dad to this young girl, Mia. It’s like swapping between two separate internet browser tabs.
Rental Family frustratingly opts for lightness despite potential for profoundness.
Mari Yamamoto and Brendan Fraser in RENTAL FAMILY. Photo by James Lisle/Searchlight Pictures. © 2025 Searchlight Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
There’s a more intriguing film happening in the background. At Rental Family, Phillip’s co-worker Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) is apprehensive. Part of it is justified, as he nearly gets cold feet on his first assignment, and she has to remind him of what he signed up for and how it will screw up their business. The film also sheds light on her struggle as the only woman at the company, meaning her only jobs are playing mistresses that men would inform their wives they are having an affair with, and then bringing their real mistresses themselves. Aiko is always on the receiving end of that stick, getting physically abused by her clients' wives, which is such a stark contrast to Phillip’s situation. However, Hikari and co-screenewrier attempts to make her portrait as light as possible, which strangely dispels any sense of danger. It's weird because this is a serious subject, shrouded by a film with sheer whimsy that is tonally just jarring.
Through Phillip and his sweet-cored American ways, Hikari comments on the strict emotional dissonance and dynamics of Japanese people. The film highlights how mental health is stigmatized, and the generational cycle of emotional neglect. Hence, people need the Rental Family. But after being spoiled by Left-Handed Girl and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl this year, movies commenting on traditionalist aspects of their social culture should feel fairly bold. I know Rental Family is meant to bear a lighter tone, and the presence of an American with positive morals is essential to this story. Yet, there should be a stronger conversation about Japanese emotional sociology if the conduit wasn't a white American guy. It doesn't matter if you say "token white guy" or make fun of his descent. He's still a white guy being utilized to form a commentary about Japan. At least the director is of Japanese descent, but something about it feels odd, in a way I can't necessarily describe. Heck, I would have felt different if Phillip weren't an expat but just a white guy who was born in Japan and wants to be an actor there.
As I grow older, films being predictable don’t bother me as much. I believe it’s not about what happens in a story; it's about how it’s told. But with Rental Family, you can see every story beat coming faster than a bullet train. This is mainly due to its heart-on-sleeve navigation and the overall intimate, charming performances. Granted, it had the potential to do more, but I was delighted nonetheless.
Final Statement
Rental Family is a tender and affectionate drama elevated by Brendan Fraser's star presence and delves into the theme of human connectivity, despite its basic lighthearted demeanor. It operates in a golly gee, schmaltzy, feel-good environment, nothing more or less, but it does leave a nice little smile on your face.
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