Brendan Fraser Proves Worthy of Another Oscar in Sneak Peek From Heartwarming Drama ‘Rental Family’ [Exclusive]

It’s hard to find many actors as widely beloved as Brendan Fraser. After years being out of the spotlight, he came roaring back in 2022 with Darren Aronofsky‘s The Whale, winning his first Oscar for Best Actor and officially kicking off the Brenaissance. Since then, the Mummy star has been a fixture in Hollywood once more, appearing in Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon and the Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage team-up Brothers, and wrapping up his stint as Robotman in Doom Patrol. Now, he has his next big leading role in Rental Family, a heartwarming comedy-drama from 37 Seconds and Beef director Hikari that we’re excited to feature as part of Collider’s Exclusive Preview week for upcoming winter film and television titles. We can share a new sneak peek that sees him trying to understand the deeper meaning behind his new job in a “rental family” agency, with a bit of help from Mari Yamamoto.

Rental Family casts Fraser as Phillip Vandarploeug, an American actor living in modern-day Tokyo and struggling to find purpose in his life. After spending seven years in Japan, he has little to show for his time there, save for a role in a commercial where he plays a toothpaste-themed superhero. However, everything changes when he’s offered an unusual role — playing stand-in loved ones for people. In our sneak peek, it’s clear he doesn’t fully get the meaning of being a friend or family member for hire at first, but he wants to understand, and his co-worker Aiko (Yamamoto) shares her own perspective on how their job captures the beauty and power of human companionship. Soon, he starts becoming immersed in the worlds of his clients, whether as a father, a husband, or just a friend, forming genuine bonds that start to blur the boundaries between performance and reality. Complications inevitably creep in as he starts pondering the moral implications of his work and the relationship he actually has with the people he meets, but it ultimately gives him a purpose and sense of belonging he never knew he needed and forces him to look inward and appreciate the role he was born to play — himself.

In addition to directing, Hikari also co-wrote Rental Family with Stephen Blahut. Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, and Shin Yamaguchi also joined the director as producers on the project. Alongside Fraser and Yamamoto, the film brought in Emmy-nominated Shōgun star Takehiro Hira as the manager of the agency, with Shannon Gorman and Akira Emoto rounding out the cast. Their work combined to make a bona fide critical darling, earning a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and plenty of praise for Fraser as a potential Oscar contender. Collider’s Ross Bonaime gave the film a 7/10 in his review, calling it “a gentle, pleasant story that will surprise you with its affecting narrative.”

Fraser Is Eyeing an Even Bigger Comeback After ‘Rental Family’

While Fraser is getting plenty of buzz for the wholesome Rental Family, he’s also gearing up for something big that harkens back to his heyday in the 1990s. Earlier this month, it was revealed that he was in discussions to reprise his role as Rick O’Connell for the first time since 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in a new Mummy movie under the direction of Scream and Ready or Not duo Radio Silence, aka Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Better yet, Rachel Weisz was also in talks to return, reuniting the sizzling-hot duo from one of Universal’s most beloved cult hit monster movies ever made. It should be a welcome return to his action-hero heartthrob heights after two much-lauded, emotionally-heavy lead roles.

Rental Family premieres in theaters on November 21. Check out the exclusive sneak peek in the player above and stay tuned here at Collider throughout the week for more from our winter preview series.