Rental Family (2025)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Set in modern-day Tokyo, "Rental Family" follows an American actor (Brendan Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese "rental family" agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.
- Actors:
- Brendan Fraser, Paolo Andrea Di Pietro, Shinji Ozeki, Takao Kin, Risa Kameda, Yuma Sonan, Kana Kitty, Gan Furukawa, Yuji Komatsu, Ryôko Osada, Helen Sadler, Kaoru Mizuki, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shôhei Uno, Sonoe Mizoguchi, Keiji Yamashita, Fumiya Kimura, Yuki Kimura, Tsutomu Osabe
- Directors:
- Mitsuyo Miyazaki
- Producers:
- Stephen Blahut, Brendan Fraser, Mitsuyo Miyazaki, Tomo Koizumi, Julia Lebedev, Leonid Lebedev, Yusuke Morikawa, Oren Moverman, Mio Sekiguchi, Jennifer Semler, Eddie Vaisman
- Writers:
- Mitsuyo Miyazaki, Stephen Blahut
- Aka:
- Kiralık Aile
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Comedy, Drama
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Reviews (1) of Rental Family
Tears for Hire - Rental Family review by griggs
Hikari’s Rental Family means well—almost too well. It’s so eager to move you it practically pokes you in the eye. The premise, about a lonely man hired to play a father figure for strangers, should be fertile ground for tenderness and reflection. And for a while it is. The performances are gentile, the tone warm, and the message clear: everyone wants to belong somewhere.
But for all its sincerity, the film can’t resist tugging too hard on teh heartstrings. Every emotional beat feels timed to the second, every reaction a little too rehearsed. What might have been quietly moving turns syrupy, leaving the aftertaste of something sweet but artificial.
Hikari directs with care and empathy, and there’s no denying the craft. Still, it confuses sentiment with substance—heart over depth. Rental Familyoffers plenty of feeling; it just doesn't leave much room for yours.