Rental Family
Directed by Hikari
An American actor in Tokyo struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese 'rental family' agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. From TMDB
291 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon, TMDB reviews) · newest Oct 17, 2026 · last updated Oct 18, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 127 | 2 | 103 |
| Mastodon * | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| TMDB reviews * | 2 | 1 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
44 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
61 archived X posts (Mar–Apr 2026) are kept for the record and not used.
What people are saying
A written summary appears once the title has a score.
Critics, per Wikipedia
The film was expected to launch in the low digits, projected to make $2.6 million in its opening weekend. It made $3.3 million. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 200 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "A sweet-natured dramedy about faking human connection until you make it, Rental Family provides Brendan Fraser an ideal showcase for his sensitive star power while backing him up with a terrific ensemble." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 291 · most liked firstSaw Rental Family last night. Brendan Fraser is phenomenal. The film is excellent. It’s out next week so you should go see it. Tokyo is also a main character ❤️❤️❤️
positive · AI labelView post →Just watched “Rental Family”on Hulu. What a sweet movie. It stars Brendan Fraser as an American actor living in Japan. Highly recommend!
positive · AI labelView post →Watch the trailer for Hikari's Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser ✨ The film will premiere at this year's #TIFF50 and release in theaters November 21 via @searchlightpics.bsky.social.
neutral · AI labelView post →5) Rental Family. Rather lovely film starring the always-charming Brendan Fraser as an expatriate actor in Toyko who gets a job working as an actor for hire for a “rental family” company. The combination of Japanese film-making and American schmaltz ought not to work, but somehow does.
positive · AI labelView post →I wanted to watch a movie that didn’t have guns, explosions, and cars chases. Rental Family fit the bill and was quite enjoyable.
positive · AI labelView post →Cried—like, really cried—through a lot of Rental Family tonight. I went in knowing next to nothing about it, but I was completely charmed. A beautiful film. And Brendan Fraser is terrific.
positive · AI labelView post →The Rental Family featuring Brendan Fraser was so delightful and emotional, I loved it! Even better, our entire movie theater erupted in cheers when Fraser’s character tells someone he’s from Minnesota
positive · AI labelView post →In the film Rental Family, men’s fashion is used to express MC’s psychological growth. Lovely film on emotional expansion. May pen an article on the premise, ethics & my own experience serving community roles simply because someone needed a daughter or a friend. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0pq...
positive · AI labelView post →Rental Family (2025) dir. Hikari 🎬 #NowWatching #filmsky #moviesky
neutral · AI labelView post →Jarvis cannot stand when we're watching a movie bc that's like 2 hours of us trying to not pay attention to him and he gets really sad Imagine him making noises that sound like "hrrnnnggggg hrrrrrrmmmphhhhh hrmmmmm 🥺" here (We were trying to watch Rental Family. Cute movie)
positive · AI labelView post →So I watched Rental Family on the plane & while I’m not a fan of the single white male goes to Japan and gets ennui genre it had its moments I guess plus bits were filmed literal steps from my house & I remember when they did it cuz part of the road was blocked off for a film crew and who does that.
neutral · AI labelView post →Pretty solid #LastFourWatched for #LetterboxdFriday . Brendan Fraser was incredible in Rental Family, easily my favorite recent new movie that I've watched. Probably the best movie of 2025, tbh. Go watch! #Filmsky #RentalFamily
positive · AI labelView post →#NowWatching: I mean... I'm basically down for whatever Brendan Fraser is in up until his popularity wanes and he starts doing buddy cop films with Kevin Sorbo for Hallmark Channel. #FilmSky #MovieSky #BrendanFraser #RentalFamily #CanadianActors
neutral · AI labelView post →Rental Family was the best film I’ve seen in years! I am so happy for everyone who made it. I laughed. I cried and I am so proud of Mari Yamamoto, my best friend, my co-writer at the @thedailybeast —the person who helped make #TokyoVice an authentic series! おめでとう🎊 #RentalFamily
positive · AI labelView post →Hikari’s 'Rental Family' arrives in theaters November 21st. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Mari Yamamoto, Takehiro Hira, Akira Emoto, and more. #SearchlightPictures #RentalFamily
neutral · AI labelView post →Time for #lastfourwatched Slow movie week All love, money, power 💍 Without Love Tracy, Hepburn film I hadn’t seen 🫂 Rental Family American alone in Japan 🪱 Dune (the OG) Wait. It’s an Alan 😎 🔪 How to Make a Killing Surprising #letterboxdfriday #letterboxd #filmsky #films #movies
neutral · AI labelView post →Brendan Fraser is at his most emotionally open in Rental Family (2025), giving a sensitive performance that's equal parts dopey and sweet, like a lovable Labrador. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Despite a mid-film montage intended to gloss over some script cuts, it felt like a worthwhile view.
positive · AI labelView post →Rental Family was the best film I’ve seen in years! I am so happy for everyone who made it. I laughed. I cried and I am so proud of Mari Yamamoto, my best friend, my co-writer at the @thedailybeast —the person who helped make #TokyoVicr an authentic series! おめでとう🎊
positive · AI labelView post →Rental Family was excellent and exactly my type of movie. The perfect amount of bittersweet and surprisingly funny. Hoping this one manages to sneak its way into Best Picture when the time comes!
positive · AI labelView post →you should know it's Friday films dayyy Rental Family, so tender and heartfelt, many smiles and tears feat. ethical violations~ | 4⭐/5⭐ 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, a far more brutal continuation I found more appeal in than the first, Duran Duran would keep me sane too | 3.5⭐/5⭐
positive · AI labelView post →By the time we get to the business end of awards season, many of the films can feel like tough watches. Rental Family is quite the opposite, a wry, fun comedy with Brendan Fraser never more likable than as an American actor in Tokyo taking on very strange jobs 4.5 film-authority.com/2026/01/12/r...
positive · AI labelView post →Saw a great film starring Brendan Fraser called "Rental Family" beautifully filmed in Japan, thd storyline surprises/charms. No spoilers. There is a scene where Fraser meets an old actor and looks at his vinyl collection, pulling out this Charles #Mingus LP. Cont'd #musicsky #jazzsky #jazz #music
positive · AI labelView post →RENTAL FAMILY - REVIEW 🧑🏻🎤🧑🏻🎤🧑🏻🎤🧑🏻🎤🧑🏻🎤 What if at your lowest, down on your luck, an opportunity comes to play the missing part in a people's lives? Brendan Fraser is a delight, really showing the struggles of making connections that surpass just a role. A heartwarming story! #movie #review #moviereview
positive · AI labelView post →RENTAL FAMILY (2025) Streaming: February 18, 2026 Hulu #RentalFamily whentostream.com/brendan-fras...
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm so excited for this movie haha It's called Rental Family
positive · AI labelView post →Post the: Last movie you saw 🎬 Last game you played* 🎮 Last show you watched 🖥 Last song you listened to 🎶 Rental Family Crimson Desert The Rookie Maphra - Doomed
neutral · AI labelView post →I saw Rental Family in theatre tonight. The movie connected to me in a raw, human way. I think that's a perfect feeling for a movie about our basest desires to just connect with people to leave me with. Kikuo's story (played by Akira Emoto) resonated with me in particular. Go watch it if you can!
positive · AI labelView post →Got to watch Rental Family tonight. I really loved it. Great cinematography and music, and the acting was phenomenal. Very special film.
positive · AI labelView post →Hi I watched Rental Family and I really enjoyed it and I am full of feelings and Brendan Fraser is a treasure (obvs) and that's about it. 😊📽️
positive · AI labelView post →RENTAL FAMILY (2025) Streaming: January 13, 2026 PVOD (Apple, Amazon, Fandango at Home, etc.) #RentalFamily whentostream.com/brendan-fras...
neutral · AI labelView post →#NowWatching. What a sweet movie, it's making me emosh 🥹 #FilmSky #RentalFamily
positive · AI labelView post →Wow, Rental Family. What a film. I’m glad Brendan Fraser is making such a comeback. Incredibly poignant story.
positive · AI labelView post →#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched Rental Family was about Brendan Fraser making you both smile and cry at the same time. Bullet Train was a fun action movie recommended by multiple friends and relatives. The Day After Tomorrow, cool disaster movie. ❄️ Edge of Tomorrow, exciting sci-fi groundhog day.
positive · AI labelView post →Watching Rental Family with my family. Time to cry 🥺
neutral · AI labelView post →I loved Rental Family lots. Am so happy i was able to get the blu-ray. Does anyone else love this film?
positive · AI labelView post →I got to watch both Rental Family and Saturday Night over the weekend. I cannot recommend either movie highly enough. Loved them both, will watch again.
positive · AI labelView post →"Rental Family" >>> pretty much every Oscar-nominated movie I've seen this year except for "Sinners," and while Sinners is a better movie overall, if Fraser were nominated for Best Actor I'd give it to him over Jordan.
positive · AI labelView post →Rental Family is on VOD now so I can finally get a screenshot of the two lolitas at the very beginning of the film. The dress on the left is Lyrical Bunny Parlor and on the right is wearing Dress-up Berry. #lolitafashion
neutral · AI labelView post →I liked RENTAL FAMILY more than most it seems. It’s a sweet, humanist film with a charming Brendan Fraser performance at its center. My review via Screen Daily.
positive · AI labelView post →fourth #letterboxdfriday of may and my #lastfourwatched were Fudoh: The New Generation (1996) Paprika (2006) See No Evil (2006) Rental Family (2025)
neutral · AI labelView post →NEW What’s Up Weirdo podcast ep out now! Dinner with The X-Files' Dean Haglund, Pizza funerals, Spoiler-free reviews of Sean Combs: The Reckoning, Bugonia, Nuremberg, Eternity, Rental Family, Heated Rivalry, New horror movie Primate, Pluribus, & much more! Listen here: linktree.com/whatsupweirdo
neutral · AI labelView post →I saw someone say Rental Family is a live-action Ghibli film, and while I haven’t seen it yet to know if that feels reductive, I think that might be why I’m so drawn to it, Brendan Fraser aside
neutral · AI labelView post →I’d also recommend reading Richard Roeper’s @ebertvoices.bsky.social review of RENTAL FAMILY where he writes: “This is a beautiful and contemplative film, with lovely messaging and a couple of sly twists.”
neutral · AI labelView post →Rental Family great movie I should convert to shintoism
positive · AI labelView post →Just saw the movie Rental Family with Brendan Fraser and yea, it’s amazing! If he isn’t up for another Oscar I’d be surprised!
positive · AI labelView post →In the trailer for an upcoming movie, “Rental Family”, the two characters are seen playing Giant Gram All Japan Pro Wrestling 2 on Sega Dreamcast. www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0pq...
neutral · AI labelView post →🎬 Rental Family 2025 🇺🇸🇯🇵 #Movie Opens in Japan today, following its North American release. A compelling film portraying aspects of Japanese culture often seen as ordinary, for better or worse, through the eyes of Brendan Fraser. “I’m Philip” “I’m Mia”
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight Film - Rental Family Heard great things about this one, bonus points for Japan and Brendan Fraser
neutral · AI labelView post →Rental Family sounds like the name of a Prime Video original movie starring like Mark Wahlberg
neutral · AI labelView post →#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched Ok, let me try this again… I don’t want to talk about the movie with the weird letters. Rental Family was sweet and we cried. Had to put on Planes on Thanksgiving. Mr. E put played TSOM for me to cheer me up. It was a 1st time watch.
positive · AI labelView post →the day after I submitted Hikari’s 37 Seconds as my pick for this, TIFF announced they’d be screening her next film, Rental Family, at this year’s festival! how serendipitous!! read the full piece for why I chose the film and to see the full selection: letterboxd.com/journal/uncu...
neutral · AI labelView post →Mini reviews of films watched in-flight: Mamoru Hosoda's Scarlet: Love his earlier films, but it's been too long since Hosoda's hit home. Scarlet is no diff 🙁 Rental Family: Brendan Fraser plays a rental white guy in Japan. Predictable, but really nice film abt connection among modern loneliness!
neutral · AI labelView post →Missing in here is High Noon, a movie i loved watching. Between that and Rental Family for fave watch of the week. #Letterboxd #LastFourWatched
positive · AI labelView post →Rental Family is a solid movie… some beautiful shots
positive · AI labelView post →RENTAL FAMILY: This was very sweet, crossing a little too often into saccharine. But it's a nice little movie. I enjoyed the way the filmmakers played with Brendan Fraser's relatively Gulliverian size throughout the movie.
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight's late movie is Rental Family 🍿
neutral · AI labelView post →#movie #RentalFamily American-japanese coproduction about an American actor in Tokyo who ends up in a japanese "rental family agency". Tender & touching movie about human connections, desire to be seen & humanity If you can watch in cinema, I strongly recommend this warm optimistic comedy by Hakiro!
positive · AI labelView post →Caught up on RENTAL FAMILY and what a charming little movie. I’m so glad to see brendan fraser again. He brings such a comforting warmth to the screen
positive · AI labelView post →#NowWatching 📽️ - Rental Family (2025) Dir. Hikari
neutral · AI labelView post →Well RENTAL FAMILY was a beautiful movie
positive · AI labelView post →
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