Brendan Fraser, the Oscar-winning star of ‘The Whale’, has become cinema's go-to figure for raw, earnest emotion. His latest role sees him deploy his signature empathetic gaze in ‘Rental Family’, a new film from director Hikari that explores a uniquely Japanese answer to modern isolation.
A Practice of Professional Pretence
The film examines the real-world service in Japan where people can hire strangers to act as missing family members or friends. Fraser plays Phillip Vanderploeg, an American actor with a stalled career who finds a fresh start in Tokyo working for a company called Rental Family, run by Shinji (Takehiro Hira).
His assignments are poignant: he poses as a father for a mixed-race girl, Mia (Shannon Gorman), during a crucial school interview, and acts as a journalist companion for an ageing actor, Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto). The film, set for release on 16 January 2026, presents a spectrum of clientele, from gamers seeking buddies to individuals staging their own funerals.
Compassion Over Complexity
Where earlier Western films like Werner Herzog’s ‘Family Romance, LLC’ (2019) used the concept to probe nihilism and identity, Hikari’s approach is one of broad compassion. Having lived in both Japan and the US, the director aims for a hybrid insider-outsider perspective, with Fraser as her emotional conduit.
However, the film, co-written by Stephen Blahut, chooses not to delve deeply into the thornier implications of its premise. It sidesteps lasting questions about the ethics of relationships built on lies or the repercussions for colleagues like Aiko (Mari Yamamoto), who plays the ‘other woman’ for wives in denial.
A Visually Pristine, Unexamined World
The narrative also opts for a picture-postcard view of Tokyo, filled with colourful festivals and sleek clubs, rather than a more mundane, everyday reality. The complex ‘why’ behind Japan's stigma around mental distress is addressed only in a rushed explanation.
Ultimately, ‘Rental Family’ relies heavily on Fraser’s potent, tearful expressiveness to carry its empathetic weight. The film concludes with a pointed visual reminder of his capacity for feeling, leaving bigger, more difficult questions about human connection and commercialised comfort largely unanswered.
‘Rental Family’ is a Cert 12A, 110-minute drama from Searchlight Pictures, arriving in cinemas on Friday.
