Rental Family

"Happiness tailored to you!"

2025 1h 50m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🍅

87%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.6

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 1,057🍅87%Rotten Tomatoes●64Metacritic★7.6IMDB · 50,994

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An American actor in Tokyo 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.

“Happiness tailored to you!”

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Cast

Brendan Fraser
Phillip Vanderploeg
Takehiro Hira
Shinji Tada
Mari Yamamoto
Aiko Nakajima
Shannon Mahina Gorman
Mia Kawasaki
Akira Emoto
Kikuo Hasegawa
Paolo Andrea Di Pietro
Handsome Actor
Shinji Ozeki
Casting Director
Takao Kin
Bartender

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Hikari
Writers: Hikari, Stephen Blahut
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Hikari, shot by Takuro Ishizaka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jon Thor Birgisson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Brendan Fraser and Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Happiness tailored to you!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt14142060 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Hikari directs. Takuro Ishizaka behind the camera. Jon Thor Birgisson scores. Alan Baumgarten cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released last year.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
3Directed by Hikari, shot by Takuro Ishizaka. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jon Thor Birgisson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Alan Baumgarten shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Brendan Fraser and Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Happiness tailored to you!".
8IMDB entry: tt14142060 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "self-discovery", "tokyo, japan", "candid", "social isolation".

The technical file

Cinematography: Takuro Ishizaka
Original score: Jon Thor Birgisson
Editing: Alan Baumgarten
Production design: Norihiro Isoda
Costume design: Meg Mochizuki
Makeup / hair: Tomomi Arai
Sound: Kevin Senzaki
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $26,585,129
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Rental Family (2025)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 64/100
IMDB rating: 7.6/10 · 50,994 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

11 wins & 22 nominations total

Also by

Hikari

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Brent Marchant2025-10-22
★ 4/10
Forging personal connections can be difficult enough these days, even in casual circumstances. But what happens when we require someone to play a vital role for a pressing need and no one is available to stand in? That’s when it may be time to place a call to Rental Family, a Tokyo-based company that provides individuals to step in and fill the missing link. It’s also a perfect opportunity to provide work for unemployed actors, giving them a chance to ply their trade and gain experience at broadening the range of their craft while helping out others in times of need. Such is the case for Phillip Vandarploeg (Brendan Fraser), a largely unsuccessful American actor who moved to Japan years ago to make a cheesy toothpaste commercial but has since found few opportunities to further his career. He initially has reservations about serving as a professional impersonator, but, once he gets the hang of it, he finds himself quite adept at it. However, the deeper he gets into his assignments – such as playing a surrogate father/husband to help an ambitious single mother (Shino Shinozaki) get her daughter (Shannon Gorman) into a prestigious school and impersonating an entertainment journalist to allegedly profile an aging actor (Akira Emoto) and help him relive his memories before he loses them permanently – the more involved he becomes in his clients’ lives, raising ethical questions that give him anguish but from which he has difficulty walking away. In many respects, “Rental Family” feels like a lightweight version of the excellent, recently released Austrian offering “Peacock,” one that aims for a crowd-pleasing vibe more than its substantive counterpart. Unfortunately, though, this is where this picture comes up short. To carry out its narrative objectives, writer-director Hikari’s second feature outing is eminently predictable, interminably schmaltzy and heavy-handed to a fault, qualities that grow ever more cringeworthy the more the story progresses. And, when the picture attempts to break out of this mold and become less obvious, it goes overboard, turning preposterous and lacking in credibility. Add to that an excessive number of minor story threads, and you’ve got an unwieldy production that becomes tiresome and unfocused. What’s more, this is a vehicle in which Fraser looks undeniably trapped, portraying a forgettable role that’s a far cry below his considerable capabilities and a long way from his Oscar-winning performance in “The Whale” (2022). In fact, other than some gorgeous cinematography and a few admittedly touching moments in the aging actor story thread, this one is easily skipped without missing anything worthwhile. The issues addressed here are more substantial than the wispy fluff they’ve been accorded in this project, so, if these are subjects that truly interest you, give “Peacock” a much more deserved view in its place, a decision you’re unlikely to regret.
justtoday19922025-11-25
I can't wait to watch this movie. It says its already out November 20th but I still can't watch it on here or any server. Will it br up soon?
Nick2025-11-30
★ 7/10
Good vibes, missed opportunities Rental Family delivers sweetness with Brendan Fraser charm, but stumbles in its depths Fraser remains the MVP—his gentle giant presence and expressive vulnerability carry this film through its overly sentimental beats. Critics are right that his performance is quietly devastating, conveying awkward tenderness as he navigates Tokyo's morally murky rental family industry. The elderly client's storyline genuinely tugs at the heartstrings, offering the film's most emotionally resonant moments. However, strip away Fraser and the film can't escape its overly sentimental tones with characters that have no depth. The concept itself is fascinating yet deeply uncomfortable—the practice raises all sorts of questions about ethical implications and emotional consequences that the film barely scratches. It could have gone deeper, darker, and more boldly into the oddities of the human rental market, but opts for crowd-pleasing warmth instead. AND WHAT WAS THAT SHINJI REVEAL?? The movie drops this bombshell about his rental family and just... moves on?? Zero exploration, zero payoff. Frustratingly half-baked. A pleasant watch elevated by Fraser's magic, but ultimately too safe to truly resonate.