Every awards season seems to have one: An unassuming crowd-pleaser that sneaks up on voters and somehow finds its way into the race. (Think CODA.) This year, that film might be Rental Family. It’s not a prestige drama, and it’s certainly not hitting theaters with a tidal wave of buzz like some other films are (ahem, Wicked: For Good). Rather, it’s a smaller film that’s gentle, observant, and deeply human, and anyone who sees it is bound to be moved.
Rental Family stars Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser (Encino Man, The Whale) as Phillip Vandarpleog, a struggling American actor living in Japan, who is still waiting for his big break. Till that happens, he gets by with random commercial gigs and other blink-and-you’ll-miss-them acting jobs.
It’s this unsteady, in-between life that makes him the perfect candidate for an unusual company called Rental Family — a business that hires actors to play whatever stand-in role a client needs: a best friend, a mistress, a funeral attendee, a sibling, a spouse, or a groom. Essentially, it’s human companionship as a service. (HCaaS?) Or, to put it another way: “We sell emotion,” Phillip’s new boss (Takehiro Hira) tells him.
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