Rental Family Finds Warmth in Make-Believe

Rental Family

★ ★ ★

Rental Family is a heartwarming story about a struggling actor named Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser), who’s been living abroad in Tokyo for two years, waiting for a big break. He’s been working in gimmicky commercials—his most recent as a tube-of-toothpaste super hero who fights off cavities. It might pay the bills, but Phillip is feeling the pangs of desire for more meaningful roles. It may drag in parts, occasionally meandering around its plot, but it still leaves you feeling good as the credits roll.

Phillip is waiting to hear on an audition for a lead role in a Korean cop show. His agent Sonia (Helen Sadler), whom we only hear on the phone, isn’t confident he landed it—the audition was awkward. Meanwhile, she has a role for him, but it’s something out-of-the-box. He’s to play the role of a “sad American” at a funeral. It’s not a television show, it’s not a movie—it’s an actual funeral with paid actors as mourners by a company called “Rental Family.”

Mari Yamamoto and Brendan Fraser
© 2025 Searchlight Pictures

The Rental Family owner, Shinji Tada (Takehiro Hira), offers Phillip more roles like this. Phillip is reluctant at first, but Shinji explains that he can help make a difference in people’s lives, filling the temporary gaps they’re struggling with.

Phillip takes on several of these roles, one of his first is the estranged father of young Mia Kawasaki (Shannon Gorman). Mia’s mother, Hitomi (Shino Shinozaki), thinks that if her daughter meets her father, he might encourage her to score well on an entrance exam to a prestigious private school. Despite Mia’s initial reluctance, Phillip forms a strong bond with her. So much so that we believe he is her father.

Shinji sends Phillip on another assignment—as a journalist interviewing former film star Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto). Kikuo is long retired and shows signs of early onset dementia. His daughter Masami (Sei Matobu) watches Kikuo like a hawk, concerned for his well-being. Phillip and Kikuo also form a strong bond—eventually becoming genuine friends. Kikuo convinces Phillip to take him to his childhood home—a journey that will require a train ride and a small ‘jailbreak’ from Masami.

Brendan Fraser on a jailbreak
© 2025 Searchlight Pictures

It’s not hard to spot the plot points where things go wrong. Phillip isn’t Mia’s father and the truth will crush her. Kikuo’s safety on the “jailbreak” journey will be jeopardized by his dementia. Phillip will find himself in legal trouble. But he’ll learn that maybe there’s something in this kind of work that does make a difference after all.

The film stumbles at times, presenting a situation ripe for a dramatic payoff that falls a touch empty. Shinji has a wife (Yuka Itaya) and elementary-age son (Hinata Kaizu). The home dynamic is strained. It’s clear Shinji wants to be a good husband and father, but there’s an unspoken fracture within the family. As it is, it makes sense within the film, but the emotional impact is shallow and doesn’t carry the impact it should.

Brendan Fraser and Akira Emoto
© 2025 Searchlight Pictures

To a far lesser degree, this is the case with the other emotional scenes as well. Competent scenes that never quite give us the gut punch we’re expecting.

Rental Family is still a good movie, beautifully shot against the backdrop of Japanese scenery. It’s well acted and heartwarming. Despite its missteps, Fraser is convincing as Phillip in his journey from an actor empty inside to a man filled with purpose. Rental Family is a real business in Japan, and though this movie is not a true story, it’s not hard to see why hiring professional actors to fill in as family members, or friends for events and companionship, might be successful. Sometimes we need that wholesome human connection, even if it’s rented for just a little while.