By now we are all pretty familiar with the reality of the loneliness epidemic that we are facing as a society. It is also increasingly common knowledge that you can rent a boyfriend or girlfriend in Asia, though that probably remains a curiosity for most people who have heard of this. But seldom do you see those two elements combined in such an elegant and impactful way as this film.
Hikari’s directorial debut is a quiet human comedy that looks beyond a culture clash to speak to the commonality that we all share. Fraser plays Philip Vanderploeg, an American actor and expat in Japan who gets hired by a small company that hires actors to play staged parts and roles in their clients’ lives – from faking weddings to playing video games with a companion or helping a single mom pretend to be her husband and a father to her daughter for an interview for a prestigious private school. Philip starts to lose himself in the roles over time, blurring the lines between what is real and what he is hired to do.
The way that so much of Japanese culture can feel, to a gaijin, performative, plays right into the themes of the film, and the deeply held desire to not just play dress-up like Glenn Powell in Hit-Man but to service as a chance to be someone else, and to escape your past mistakes. Everyone wants a do-over, but you don’t always get the opportunity. At one point, an elderly man who Philip is pretending to interview, asks him if he has kids, and when they talk about their lives and regrets with his daughter, he says simply “when she is young, make sure to spend time with her”.
Fraser here is an example of pitch-perfect casting, with the film using his innate likeability and sincerity and unique hangdog face and eyes to great effect. Fraser’s performance is the best portrait of a lonely American in Tokyo since Lost in Translation, but unlike Murray, Fraser doesn’t expressly reject his surroundings and despite his best efforts to blend in, to slouch his shoulders and slump into the subway seats and paved sidewalks, his hulking 6’3” frame makes it impossible to assimilate in the bustling Tokyo crowds. It is a metaphor for his emotional incongruence in his environment, but his relationship with the locals is one of acceptance and respect – maybe the difference with having a Japanese director instead of an American one.
Rental Family came out the same weekend as Wicked: For Good last year, which was likely a factor in how underrated and underseen the former has been, and how it failed to garner any awards recognition, despite mostly positive reviews. As the saying goes, you get what you give in relationships. Fraser finds connection in his relationships, whether they are forged naturally or constructed artificially, and his best feature and his flaw is how much he cares and how personal he is willing to get. Even for the lonely, sometimes the only way out is through.
Now streaming on Hulu.
