Going to therapy is hard work. Even in America there’s a stigma around it, not to mention how vulnerable you have to make yourself to get anything out of it. So it’s not surprising when Director Hikari explains to the audience at The Chicago International Film Festival it’s even more stigmatized in Japan. Rather than therapy, a more culturally acceptable way to resolve one’s emotions is by paying someone to act like your father so you can explain to this proxy how you’re feeling. If you’re thinking that sounds both strange and hilarious, it is. And this concept is the baseline for Hikari’s new film Rental Family.

Brendan Fraser stars, a washed up actor who experienced some success in Japan by appearing in a toothpaste commercial. While it has a similar plot line and some of the somber notes of Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, Rental Family is a much lighter film. Fraser’s character Phillip is confused by the concept when he is hired by Shinji (Takehiro Hira) the owner of Rental Family the company to play “sad American”. He pushes back against it, “It’s lying isn’t it?” he asks. But by that logic it feels like perhaps any acting is lying. And perhaps that’s true, perhaps the lies that we tell ourselves are part of what help us to go through our lives every day.

One character who is the most exasperated with Phillip’s handwringing is Aiko (Mari Yamamoto), a female coworker of Phillip’s at Rental Family. Aiko is put into much more difficult and dangerous situations than Phillip ever is. She is often hired by men to portray their mistresses so that she can apologize for seducing them away from their wives. Allowing these men to skate by with less punishment, and not give up their actual accomplices, the gender privilege is put on display as Phillip nervously worries about pretending to be a husband for a woman so she can flee to Canada, while Aiko holds her head up high as a wife slaps her across the face for a crime she did not commit.

Meanwhile, there are two main clients that Phillip is rented for. The first being a woman using Rental Family to have someone talk to her father Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto), a famous retired actor yearning to speak on about his glory days. Phillip is to portray a reporter working on a piece about him to help Kikuo remember how respected he was and is. The other client that Phillip has spend time with is Mia (Shannon Gorman) a young girl in need of a father. Her mother has hired Rental Family so that Phillip can help get Mia into an exclusive Japanese school. It should be noted that both Kikuo and Mia are unaware that Phillip is not who he claims to be, putting further pressure on him in his unease about telling these lies. Particularly a young girl who believes him to be her father.

The relationships that Phillip forms with Kikuo and Mia underline the conceit of the film. We have family all around us. Connections are easy to make if we open ourselves up to them. Even something based on a lie can feel as real as any bloodline or byline, and if it feels real, than it is real. Feelings are indeed facts. The performances push these concepts to the next level. Fraser has always had an impressively emotive face, but what made him shine both as an action star and an awards contender was his ability to seem vulnerable when it really mattered. He continues to do so in spades in this picture. Another amazing performance is Mari Yamamoto as Aiko who tackles every scene she’s in.

It should be noted this movie is delightfully funny. It is after all, a slightly absurd concept and the cast is able to ace every comedy scene alongside every dramatic sequence with equal ease. My only real note for the film is that of pacing. It feels rushed at times and part of that is the set up of the concept that it has to do. But Rental Family is a funny, heartfelt, and sweet display of both Director Hikari and the cast that she put together.

4.5/5