Hikari’s Rental Family explores Japan’s real life rent a relative industry through the eyes of Philip, a lonely actor in Tokyo played by Brendan Fraser. Hired to play husbands, fathers, and sons for clients in need, Philip finds himself blurring the line between performance and authenticity. Takehiro Hira and Mari Yamamoto add dimension as colleagues navigating the same fragile terrain.
Hikari directs with warmth and restraint, treating the premise with humanity rather than mockery. Fraser gives a tender, melancholic performance, reminding audiences why he remains such a compelling screen presence. Rental Family is gentle but piercing, uncovering the loneliness beneath modern life and the strange, sometimes beautiful ways people seek connection. It is one of the festival’s most humane discoveries, a film that lingers softly in the heart.
Rental Family is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
