Hikari’s Rental Household may be probably the most light, human movie you’ll see all 12 months. It’s the form of movie we want extra of, because it captures the individuals’s loneliness and want for connection — with household, pals, and even strangers — with a tenderness that I haven’t seen shortly. Co-written by Hikari and Stephen Blahut, Rental Household just isn’t solely a superbly informed story but in addition a drama that employs dose of coronary heart and humor.
To say that I used to be moved by the movie is an understatement. I typically go into movies having solely learn the premise and possibly having seen the trailer as soon as. It retains a film’s story intact for probably the most half, whereas leaving room to be stunned by what the filmmaker has in retailer. To that finish, Rental Household looks like a revelation — a breath of contemporary air after an extended, onerous day. It’s evocative and wealthy, tackling advanced feelings and relationships with a delicacy that will simply have you ever tearing up.
The movie follows Phillip (Brendan Fraser, in a shocking flip), a struggling actor who takes a gig on the Rental Household firm run by Shinji (Takehiro Hira). The companies primarily contain Phillip pretending to be somebody the hiring household or particular person wants at any given second — a dad to Mia (Shannon Mahina), whose mom (Shino Shinozaki) hires to do an interview for the college she desires Mia to get into, a journalist to interview Kiko (Akira Emoto), a retired actor apprehensive about his legacy being forgotten, and a plethora of different roles.
It’s touching with out being heavy-handed, and actually will get to the guts of those characters.
Hikari’s movie is a mild soul. It takes its time laying the inspiration for the story, expertly weaving collectively the characters and their connection to Phillip. Rental Household has obtained quite a bit to stability, nevertheless it does it so nicely that it appears easy. It’s Phillip’s rising relationships with Mia and Kiko which might be particularly poignant. And it’s not simply Phillip who’s serving to them — they’re serving to him fill the void in his life. Everyone seems to be lacking one thing right here, and the movie acts like a bridge between them so that they don’t should undergo life alone.
To that finish, the drama explores these layered dynamics deftly. It’s touching with out being heavy-handed, and actually will get to the guts of those characters. Each dialog is considerate, and the movie is commonly humorous. It’s a balancing act that gracefully handles each factor. It’s a narrative that’s deeply rooted in humanity and the way we transfer on the earth in relation to at least one one other. By way of Phillip, Rental Household additionally underscores the ethical complexities of working in such a place. Embedding himself in individuals’s private lives impacts their feelings and his, and the movie handles all of it with sensitivity.
Rental Household’s Solid Approaches The Narrative With Coronary heart & Depth
Between the writing, the tender rating, and the sense of calmness evoked by the cinematography and course, Rental Household wanted an ideal forged to convey all of it collectively. With Brendan Fraser main a shocking forged of characters, the movie actually delivers on that entrance. Fraser’s efficiency is efficient. His expressive face and eyes spotlight the depth of Phillip’s loneliness and the way a lot his new job fills it with a happiness he’s considerably hesitant about. The actor is all the time improbable, however he masterfully showcases Phillip’s emotions, sporting his coronary heart on his sleeve as he navigates different individuals’s feelings alongside together with his personal.
Shannon Mahina and Akira Emoto are additionally distinctive as Mia and Kiko, respectively. They occupy totally different levels in life, in addition to totally different circumstances, however they create a lot which means to their roles and to their respective relationships with Phillip. Mahina is curious as Mia, underscoring how mendacity to youngsters isn’t the correct method to go regardless of not wanting to harm them. Emoto displays how a lot we would like our reminiscence to imply one thing to somebody, and his efficiency just isn’t solely pretty, however he additionally brings levity to the movie.
Rental Household is virtually poetic in its dealing with of its themes. It will get to the foundation of human feelings and the way they’re affected by the world round us and the selections made by others. It’s a heartwarming movie that asks considerate questions, and I promise you gained’t be dissatisfied by its solutions.
Rental Household premiered on the 2025 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition.
Rental Household
9/10
- Launch 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
- Producers
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Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev