Rental Family

"We play roles in clients' lives. Parents, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends. And help them connect to what's missing."

Wholesome, human and hopeful, Rental Family is both a light hearted depiction of the deep need humans have for relational connection that’s also an emotionally weighted journey that explores the complexities of love, loss and longing with a warmly empathetic Brendan Fraser at the story’s soulful surrogate centre.

Discussion Points:

Hikari’s heartfelt film uses windows frequently to show us the internal lives of its inhabitants and Brendan Fraser’s Philip is our window into the Japanese culture, and he’s the emotional surrogate for the audience as we experience the cultural differences through him. He’s also an emotional surrogate for the people around him, as he is rented out to play different roles for people in need of a father, friend and family member. Fraser is deeply empathetic as he tries to connect with a girl in need of a daughter (a bright and spunky Shannon Mahina Gorman) and an elderly man (a sly spry Akira Emoto) in need of a friend. He’s out of his depth, and finds himself increasingly drawn into the personal roles he’s playing, rather than maintaining professional distance, but his deep sense of responsibility enables the film to avoid being just a surface level depiction, but a deeper examination of humanity’s needs for relational connection. It may not fully explore all the potential avenues of the rental relationship industry, occasionally feels a little episodic as Philip moves from client to client and ultimately resolves its heartaches neatly, but its an overall wholesome, heartwarming and hopeful film about the importance of gentle, caring love.