Rental Family Review: Brendan Fraser Shines in a Warm, Offbeat Drama About Loneliness and Connection

Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)

4 **** out of 5 stars

Rental Family

Directed by Hikari

Written by Hikari

Starring Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Akira Emoto, Mari Yamamoto

Release Date November 21st, 2025

Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)
Brendan Fraser in Rental Family

Rental Family begins with a scene that perfectly captures the film’s tone — darkly comic, quietly emotional, and just strange enough to make you lean in closer. Phillip (Brendan Fraser), a struggling actor living in Japan, shows up late for what he believes is a paying gig. Instead, he walks in on a funeral with no cameras, no director, and no crew. Just a woman delivering a eulogy… and the man in the coffin suddenly sitting up to smile at her.

What starts as surreal humor becomes unexpectedly poignant when Phillip learns the truth: the funeral was staged by Shinji (Takehiro Hira) for a lonely man who hired actors to mourn him so he could feel loved, even briefly.

This, Phillip quickly discovers, is the world of Rental Family -a service where people hire actors…

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