Rental Family (2025) Rental Family
A comedy-drama directed by Hikari, co-written with Stephen Blahut. Brendan Fraser stars as Phillip Vanderploeg, a struggling American actor in Tokyo who takes a job with a rental family agency, playing stand-in relatives for clients seeking connection. Distributed by Searchlight Pictures. (wikipedia, imdb)
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Director | Hikari |
| Writers | Hikari, Stephen Blahut |
| Stars | Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Akira Emoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman |
| Cinematography | Takuro Ishizaka |
| Score | Jonsi and Alex Somers |
| Producers | Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Hikari, Shin Yamaguchi |
| Production Companies | Sight Unseen Productions, Domo Arigato Productions |
| Distributor | Searchlight Pictures |
| TIFF Premiere | September 6, 2025 |
| US Theatrical | November 21, 2025 |
| Running Time | 103 minutes |
| Rating | PG-13 |
| Country | United States / Japan |
| Languages | English, Japanese |
Key Pages
- Plot Summary (Rental Family)
- 40 Beats (Rental Family)
- Cast and Characters (Rental Family)
- Production History (Rental Family)
- Themes and Analysis (Rental Family)
- Critical Reception and Legacy (Rental Family)
- Physical Media Releases (Rental Family)
- Structure Graphics (Rental Family)
People
- Hikari (Rental Family)
- Brendan Fraser (Rental Family)
- Akira Emoto (Rental Family)
- Takehiro Hira (Rental Family)
- Mari Yamamoto (Rental Family)
- Takuro Ishizaka (Rental Family)
- Jonsi and Alex Somers (Rental Family)
Key Sequences
- The Sham Wedding
- The Road Trip to Amakusa
- The Apology Services
- The Shrine Mirror
- The Funeral Bracket
Analysis & Context
- Performance and Authenticity (Rental Family)
- Japan's Rental Family Industry
- Tokyo as Setting (Rental Family)