Rental Family

Phillip Vanderploeg, an American actor adrift in Tokyo, can't shake the feeling that his career and purpose have stalled. When he accepts a job with a rental family agency, he starts portraying fathers, brothers and partners for clients who need temporary human connection. At first each assignment feels like a set piece, a performance with clear boundaries. But as Phillip spends time in other people's homes and rhythms, small routines and private confessions begin to affect him. He forms friendships and faces cultural misunderstandings while trying to balance honesty with the roles he plays, and the film focuses on the shifting line between acting and living without revealing how the story ends. It keeps intimate moments close and quietly funny.

Released in 2025, Rental Family was directed by HIKARI and created by Stephen Blahut, with Brendan Fraser leading a cast that includes Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Mahina Gorman and Akira Emoto. It blends American and Japanese cast and crew.

Box office figures for the film are not widely reported, since it played primarily at festivals and select theaters. It found a modest theatrical run rather than a wide commercial release. Streaming options and international availability differed widely across territories.

By showing Japan's rental family services through an outsider's eyes, the movie engages with ideas about chosen family, loneliness and cross-cultural exchange. Scenes of quiet domesticity and awkward intimacy have already entered conversations among viewers who appreciate stories about small, human moments. Its scenes of ritual and routine feel cross-cultural.

Critical and audience response has been generally positive, with an average vote of 7.8/10 from early viewers. Many have pointed to Fraser's warm, understated turn and HIKARI's light touch blending comedy with serious themes, including identity, performance versus authenticity, and how people build belonging in unexpected ways, and invites discussion.