Rental Family (2025 | Japan | 110 minutes | Hikari)

Several years ago (seven to be exact), I first learned about the Japanese phenomenon of “renting” family members from a long New Yorker article by the great Elif Batuman. For anyone willing to pay several thousand yen, it’s possible to rent a surrogate to fill an emotional (and physical) vacancy: someone to attend birthday parties, go shopping, or even get slapped by the wife of an unfaithful husband. People are lonely, and these companies exist to fill that void.

This reality is explored in a pretty good new movie called Rental Family. It’s the second film I know of to use this premise, after Werner Herzog’s 2019 documentary Family Romance, LLC. It’s almost surprising there aren’t more, since the concept feels perfect for both exploration and melodrama.

Brendan Fraser stars as an American actor living alone in Tokyo named Phillip Vanderpleog. He’s not particularly successful, but he gets by. You might have seen him in a toothpaste commercial or maybe dressed as a tree somewhere. One morning, his agent calls with a part for him: all he has to do is put on a black suit and attend a funeral, and the pay is pretty good. The role is “Sad American.” Soon he’s lured into the rental family business by its owner, Shinji (Takehiro Hira).

His first gig is as the groom in a fake wedding, helping a bride hide a truth her family must not discover. When we learn the reason for the ruse, it’s unexpectedly heartwarming and shows the service at its most altruistic. Still, you’ll probably have the same questions I did: Can these actors become more emotionally invested than the job requires? What happens when the client ends the arrangement? Is this really more noble than sex work? And how common are toothpaste commercials in Japan, anyway?

Phillip’s two main jobs are as the father of a young girl (Shannon Gorman) whose mother wants to get her into an elite school that favors two-parent homes, and as a journalist pretending to write a feature on a legendary Japanese actor before he dies. What could possibly go wrong? If I said anything more, I’d have to include a spoiler warning.

Director Hikari and co-writer Stephen Blahut include a few knowing references to the confusion Westerners often feel toward Japanese culture. In one scene, Shinji tells Phillip that he could live there for many years and still have more questions than answers. I found that comforting, since I recently began reading the weird and otherworldly fiction of Sayaka Murata.

Two things especially stood out to me about Rental Family. First, Tokyo might be the most photogenic city in the world on film (at least when I’m not watching Godzilla movies, which is actually pretty often), and Hikari really leans into that.

Second, the star: Brendan Fraser is perfectly cast as an American adrift in Japan. His Japanese is rough but passable, and he projects a sensitivity and warmth that make him ideal for the role. His performance is understated but deeply felt, and it’s one of my favorites of the year.

Rental Family can be slow and predictable at times, but when it surprised me—especially when we learn about Shinji’s home life—I was genuinely moved. I was more bullish than my Sunbreak colleague Josh, who saw it at its Toronto premiere a few months ago. He’s not wrong, as the two main storylines do wrap up a bit too neatly. But despite its flaws, I couldn’t resist this movie. It captures a simple truth: on some level, we’re all lonely, and we’ll sometimes go to unusual lengths to connect with someone, even when the connection is transactional and temporary.

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Rental Family opens wide on Friday, November 21.