Rating 7/10
It’s the kind of premise you’d swear was made up as a writer’s invention. An out-of-work American actor in Tokyo is recruited by an agency to play the role of a groom, a parent, and a friend for assorted customers who need a stand-in for their everyday life. But I was surprised to discover that this fabrication is rooted in a Japanese industry that has quietly existed for three decades. In Japan, certain organizations genuinely provide “rental relatives”. Family Romance, founded in 2009 by Ishii Yuichi, is just one example of an authentic company. Perhaps you want mourners for a funeral, companionship for an elderly parent, a date for a party, or a dad at a school event. To be fair, it’s a fringe concept even in its home country. Nevertheless, the real-world practice serves as the basis for this fictional story.
Phillip Vandarploeug (Brendan Fraser) is a lonely performer struggling to find work. After he takes a job unaware that it’s for a staged funeral, he’s introduced to a peculiar company that supplies surrogates for clients who need to maintain appearances and fulfill social expectations. Phillip is reluctant at first. However, he’s persuaded by Shinji (Takehiro Hira), who runs the Rental Family business, to give it a try. The pseudo relationships soon begin to carry unexpected weight. These jobs pull him deeper into the lives he’s meant only to perform for. But when he’s assigned to play the long-absent father of a spirited young girl, Phillip’s ability to keep a personal distance starts to falter.
This American–Japanese production is directed by Hikari, who has helmed multiple episodes of the 2023 TV series Beef. She has a facility for slick, upbeat entertainment. It’s buoyed by a game cast. Brendan Fraser plays an American so lovably forlorn you want to hug him to reassure him that everything will be okay. Agency owner Shinji is such a candid personality that he blurts to Philip that he was hired as a “token white guy.” It’s a rude thing to say, but actor Takehiro Hira makes it sound more disarming than a slight. His other employees enrich the ensemble with distinct personalities: Aiko (Mari Yamamoto) is initially exasperated by Phillip’s lack of commitment, and her no-nonsense energy defines the tone of the agency. Kota (Kimura Bun) has a goofy grin and a bowl haircut that make him instantly endearing.
Phillip’s assignments bring him into contact with a diverse clientele. One is Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto), a former thespian with dementia who lives under the close watch of his daughter, Masami (Sei Matobu). Phillip is paid to pose as a journalist interviewing him, and their interactions are warmly affecting. But the connection that becomes the drama’s soulful center involves Mia (Shannon Mahina Gorman), an 11-year-old girl in need of a father figure. Her mother, Hitomi (Shino Shinozaki), hires Phillip to pose as her absent dad so Hitomi can present a complete household during an elite school’s admissions process.
The idea that a genuine human connection can emerge from something artificial is nicely explored. The relationship that Phillip and Mia form is genuinely sweet. Yet the screenplay Hikari co-wrote with Stephen Blahut sidesteps the kinds of thorny complications that would naturally arise from such a deception. It hints at the consequences, then resolves those issues far more neatly than real life ever would. Still, the film is tender enough that you may not mind the way these problems are only lightly examined. If you can accept how gently the film skirts the tough questions, it’s a lovely movie that finds its way into your heart.
12-04-25