RENTAL FAMILY
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman, and Akira Emoto
Director: Hikari
ADRIANO
There was a fear of mine that Rental Family would lean too sentimental and perhaps even emotionally manipulative, and I was pleased to say that's not the case. Brendan Fraser's teddy bear performance is easy to melt your heart, but director/co-writer Hikari’s patient and often funny writing gives each character a well-fleshed out arc and emotional stake in the narrative. While I never reached the point of tears, I certainly felt the beauty in this story that utilizes an otherwise pretty silly concept. Rental Family is a nice, feel-good film that's genuine and worthwhile in many regards.
AMARÚ
Rental Family is a sweet story that digs deeply into our inherent need for human connection, doing so with sincerity and an open heart. And it's apropos that Brendan Fraser, the sweetest man in Hollywood, was the catalyst of that honest wholesomeness. He was made for this role, embodying a level of truly inspirational empathy. Director Hikari’s smart use of her ensemble as a whole through which to successfully deliver this unique story without a drop of saccharine frivolity also is remarkable. Some emotional beats did need more time to breathe, but the smile on my face the entire runtime was genuinely undeniable.
NICK
Brendan Fraser comes across as a very kind and genuine human being, so casting him in Rental Family makes total sense. That doesn’t mean it works, though. Hikari has directed a fairly surface level story that can’t seem to focus itself. It’s a shame, as some of the themes introduced have endless potential, yet the film goes in too many directions to be able to expand on most of them. Fraser is exactly what you want him to be, but it’s the film surrounding him that feels afraid to dive into some of the questions it asks. It would’ve been much more interesting if it did.
QUENTIN
Given these turbulent times, if you need a source — any source — of optimistic, heartwarming feels, Rental Family will almost certainly deliver. Granted, those feels are incredibly shallow and extremely superficial since the characters are mostly just pawns to get you to the next saccharine story beat, but good feels are good feels. Unfortunately, the narrative doesn’t have much lasting heft behind it either because Brendan Fraser is somewhat miscast, with his ever-present teddy bear persona never allowing for a full character arc. Still, you could do worse than Rental Family, even if this cynic found it to be a little too sentimental.
This film was reviewed by Nick, Adriano, Amarú, and Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2025 Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, respectively.