Rental Family (12A)

American actor Phillip Vanderploeg lives in Tokyo, where he found fleeting fame as a superhero character in a toothpaste TV commercial. He agrees to work for the rental family agency run by Shinji (Takehiro Hira). Phillip accepts simultaneous assignments. Firstly, he pretends to be the long-lost father of Mia Kawasaki so her mother Hitomi can enrol her in a private school. He also poses as a journalist to interview retired actor Kikuo Hasegawa.

LondonNet Film Review

Rental Family (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Modern families aren’t bound by biology or bloodlines. They can be chosen and curated or, as in the case of filmmaker Hikari’s quirky comedy drama, manufactured with wholesome and altruistic intent using paid actors. Hundreds of family rental business exist in Japan and offer bespoke services to clients who feel isolated and are seeking genuine human connections. Actors become surrogate family members, friends and romantic partners. These transactional relationships manifest tangible emotion and healing…

American actor Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser) lives in Tokyo, where he has found fleeting fame as a superhero character in a toothpaste TV commercial. He auditions for roles as “a token white guy” and like many performers, has grown accustomed to rejection. He accepts his greatest challenge when he agrees to work for a rental family agency run by Shinji (Takehiro Hira). Phillip’s first gig is playing a mourner at a mock funeral. “What’s my role?” asks the bemused actor. “Sad American”, curtly responds Shinji. At first, Phillip does not fully comprehend the subtleties of the work and agency staff Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) and Kota (Kimura Bun) fear reputational damage when the American gets stage fright shortly before he prepares to ‘marry’ Yoshie (Misato Morita) in front of her parents, who are blissfully unaware their daughter is a lesbian.

Experience bolsters Phillip’s self-confidence and he accepts simultaneous assignments. Firstly, he pretends to be the long-lost father of Mia Kawasaki (Shannon Mahina Gorman) so her mother Hitomi (Shino Shinozaki) can enrol her in a private school which places great value on a stable family unit. Phillip also poses as a journalist to interview retired actor Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto), who is suffering with dementia and is a danger to himself. Kikuo’s daughter Masami (Sei Matobu) intends for Phillip to covertly care for her father in her absence.

Rental Family is a charming and offbeat comedy drama, which mines humour and heartwarming sentiment from a business practice that seems rather curious at first glance through cynical western eyes. By the end of Hikari’s picture, the value of these agencies is apparent in a gently paced script co-written by Hikari and Stephen Blahut, which affirms you can make it by sensitively faking it. Everyone and everything has a price tag and when tears fall, there is a nagging suspicion we are the ones being manipulated.

Fraser’s sweet-natured likeability provides a clear emotional tether and he confidently navigates Phillip’s narrative arc from clueless western outsider to culturally aware ambassador. Newcomer Mahina Gorman is wonderful as the unsuspecting young client, who would be devastated if she ever knew the truth about Phillip’s paid role in salving her paternal heartache. Deep discourse about the potential psychological damage to young Mia is lost entirely in translation.

– Kim Hu