David R. Walker

Archive for January 11th, 2026

Rental Family

Director: Hikari

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman

Running Time: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Language: Japanese with English subtitles

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Please note this film is mostly in Japanese with English Subtitles

Ever since Brendan Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar for Darren Aronofsky’s brilliant film The Whale, he has experienced a career resurgence after his millennial high with the Mummy franchise opposite Oscar winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener).

After brief appearance in director Martin Scorsese’s Killer of the Flower Moon, it is refreshing to see Brendan Fraser take on a lead role in a fascinating Japanese drama called Rental Family shot entirely in Tokyo.

Fraser plays the cumbersome but lovable American actor Philip Vanderploeg from Minnesota who is literally trying to make it big in Japan. Japanese director Hikari who also directed the brilliant Netflix series Beef about two Korean Americans in Los Angeles who have a road rage fight. Hikari presents an elegant feminine touch in directing Rental Family about some of the bizarre practices of Japanese culture.

Vanderploeg plays a rent an hour actor for the happiness agency headed by Shinja Tada played by Takehiro Hira (Captain America: Brave New World, Gran Turismo) with the help of his able assistant and fixer Akiro Nakajima superbly played by Mari Yamamoto who as an actor also produced the excellent series Tokyo Vice.

As a noticeable American, Vanderploeg is hired out to be a make believe husband for a fake wedding so that the bride can hide her sexuality from her parents. He is also hired to play a fake reporter for an ageing Japanese film star with dementia. Most significantly he is hired to play an American fake father to a young Eurasian girl Mia expertly played by Shannon Mahina Gorman.

Vanderploeg becomes emotionally attached to his make believe clients. He becomes fond of the ageing Japanese film star who is keen to escape from his over protective daughter. He loves playing a fake father to Mia as a means for the young girl to gain admittance into a posh Tokyo school.

Soon, Vanderploeg’s cover is blown, while he is attempting to navigate an unsual Japanese culture in which payment for make believe emotions is a common social practice.

Hikari as a director captures the mysterious allure of Japan as well as the densely populated bustle of metropolitan Tokyo with beautiful cinematography by Takuro Ishizaka and production design by Norhiro Isoda and Masako Takayama.

Brendan Fraser is excellent as the actor playing a version of himself in a foreign exotic country with unbelievable customs. Rental Family is a fascinating drama about fake relations and real emotions and is highly recommended viewing for those that love Japanese culture and films.

Rental Family gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is worth seeing for those that enjoyed films like Babel and Lost in Translation.