When Brendan Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar for The Whale, regardless of your thoughts on the Darren Aronofsky film, it was heartwarming to see Fraser on top of the world. After years of not getting his due and being essentially exiled from the industry, we were all happy to see Fraser get a much-deserved win. But there was also the slight concern that maybeThe Whale would be it — the Oscars moment to celebrate someone who deserved it, only for this to be the pinnacle of his comeback.
But in the few years since, Fraser has thankfully proved The Whale wasn’t just a one-off for his return. Since his win in 2023, Fraser was a standout in the comedy Brothers, as well as a scene-stealer in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. With Rental Family, from director Hikari, Fraser gets his first lead role since his Oscar win in a movie that leans right into his lovable nature and big-heartedness that made his win such a welcome surprise.
What Is ‘Rental Family’ About?
Fraser stars as Phillip Vandarploeug, an American actor who has been living in Japan for seven years. He had success with a toothpaste commercial, but he’s been mostly fighting for jobs as an American for a while now. Early on in Rental Family, we get an almost Rear Window-esque scene, where he looks out of his crammed apartment into another apartment complex, where, by himself, he greets the families and friends living their lives. He’s trying to lead a meaningful life, but work has been a struggle, and there’s definitely some loneliness in his life.
One day, he’s called in for a last-minute job to play a “sad American” — a fitting part from what we’ve seen. When he gets to the job, he discovers he’s been hired as a mourner at a fake funeral, where the deceased wants to see what his funeral would be like. He discovers that he has been hired by a company called Rental Family, run by Shinji (Takehiro Hira), who employ actors to replace members of people’s families and friends. Even though it sounds like a position he isn’t interested in, one of the other employees, Aiko (Mari Yamamoto), convinces him to give it a shot.
It doesn’t take long before Phillip is fully engaged in the challenges of being an employee at Rental Family, and seems to revel in the possibilities. In one family, he’s hired by a woman (Shino Shinozaki) to be the fake father to her daughter, Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman). In another, he’s asked to be a fake interviewer doing a profile for a retired actor who’s losing his memories, Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto). As Phillip continues down this new career path, he finds himself getting closer to these families and creating bonds with them that he didn’t expect.
Brendan Fraser Is the Perfect Choice for ‘Rental Family’s Lead
Hikari, who directs and co-writes the script with Stephen Blahut, finds a sweet, earnest tone for Rental Family that wears its heart on its sleeve. There’s an inviting warmth to this cast, and the film approaches Japanese culture in a matter-of-fact way. This could’ve easily been a film about how Phillip is struggling with culture shock, but seven years in, we find him adjusting and adoring this city in all its aspects, from the language to the traditions, and even the woman he pays for company every once in a while. In many ways, Rental Family almost feels like if Hirokazu Kore-eda made a more mainstream film looking at Japanese culture with an American lead, tonally reminding of films like Broker or Still Walking in its approach to this area.
It’s also hard not to love Fraser as Phillip, a kind-hearted man who is getting in over his head with the people he works with, yet with a goodnatured appreciation for doing what’s best for them as well. This is the kind of role that we haven’t really seen from Fraser before, but it is a perfect fit for him. He can be silly, as we see in his toothpaste commercial, but he can also be an effective surrogate father or friend. Fraser is lovely here, playing the kind of character you just want to give a big hug to, and the role truly plays to his strengths as an actor in this next stage of his career.
Rental Family has a fantastic collection of supporting characters that are wonderful to watch play against Fraser. Mari Yamamoto’s Aiko, who has been with Rental Family for quite some time, is becoming frustrated with the position, especially as a woman thrown into some questionable situations. But she’s also fantastic at her job, and we get to see the negatives of this position for a woman, opening up the perspective of the film past Phillip. Also very good is Akira Emoto as Kikuo, who is struggling to keep going at the pace he once could. Fraser and Emoto have a wonderful rapport, and their dynamic leads to some of the best scenes in the film.
‘Rental Family’ Would’ve Benefitted by More Depth
However, Rental Family’s script tries to stay light and agreeable, which occasionally does a disservice to the film itself. For example, we don’t really get to know too much about the Rental Family employees or those hiring for their services outside their interactions with Phillip. With Shinji, we finally learn more about him at the very end, with a reveal that seems worthy of delving into, right as the film is wrapping up. We get even less of Aiko outside the office, and while Yamamoto is very good, she could’ve been even better if her character was fleshed out more. Even stranger are the hints of Phillip’s life that we don’t see, as we get slight glimpses into his past before coming to Japan and what he left behind. This knowledge does enhance his time with Mia and her mother, but it also seems like something that should’ve been further explored to make him a more fully-realized character.
But Rental Family’s intent is to create a satisfying, touching, and ultimately emotional film with sweet performances and quiet drama, and that’s exactly what it delivers. This isn’t diving too deep into the pain that both sides of this equation might have that needs to be healed, and it would certainly be a different film if it did. There’s a beauty to what Hikari crafts in Rental Family, a gentle, pleasant story that will surprise you with its affecting narrative, yet maybe giving us more about these characters could’ve given it even more emotional heft.
Rental Family comes to theaters on November 21.
Rental Family
A tender, sweet drama with a solid Brendan Fraser, but it could’ve gone a bit deeper.
- Release Date
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November 21, 2025
- Runtime
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103 minutes
- Director
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Hikari
- Writers
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Stephen Blahut
- Brendan Fraser gives a warm, gentle performance that plays to his strengths.
- This supporting cast is uniformly great.
- Hikari sets a lovely, charming tone for this film.
- The screenplay certainly could’ve gone deeper on all of these characters.
