By John Corrado

In her heartwarming and heartfelt dramedy Rental Family, director Hikari explores the Japanese industry of “rental families;” actors that can be hired to play the roles of family members and friends for lonely people.

It’s a concept perhaps foreign to Western audiences, but one that, in her film at least, is an accepted part of Japanese culture to help with loneliness and isolation. Hikari finds her perfect conduit for the material in Brendan Fraser, continuing his career resurgence after winning an Oscar for his devastating dramatic performance in The Whale three years ago.

This is a perfect blending of actor and material, with Fraser’s affable screen presence helping ground the film. We fully believe that people would pay him to be a comforting presence in their lives, which is crucial for this potentially tricky story to land. Fraser stars as Philip, a down-on-his-luck American actor living in Japan, whose career has stalled out, with a toothpaste commercial being his most notable role.

Then he gets a new gig to play an acquaintance at a funeral, his character simply being “sad American.” Philip gets brought in to the rental family agency, and given new assignments from weddings to other family or friend roles. But his most complex roles, like interviewing an aging filmmaker (Akira Emoto), or being a father to a little girl (Shannon Mahina Gorman), become emotionally demanding in a very real way.

On a deeper level, Hikari’s film is about performance, and how actors serve as conduits for us to experience real emotion. As such, there is an interesting push and pull to many of the film’s most emotional scenes. This isn’t Philip’s real daughter, but we still have to buy the emotional bond between them.

The reason why it works is because of the warmth that Fraser generates onscreen. Fraser is such a sweet, gentle, and quietly moving presence that we completely buy him in this role, and the profound experience of finding himself that Philip has by taking on these different roles becomes quite cathartic and satisfying to watch.

Hikari’s direction is gentle and assured. The score by composers Jónsi and Alex Somers is quite ethereal, and the Japanese setting is nicely photographed by cinematographer Takuro Ishizaka. These elements all add to a lovely and touching viewing experience. It’s a very nice crowdpleaser.