Rental Family

Preview: Rental Family

classified 15 PS

part of BFI London Film Festival on Tour 2025

Film

Thu 16 Oct 20:00

Director
HIKARI
Cast
Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto
Details
109 mins, Partially Subtitled, 2025, Japan
Primary language
English, Japanese

Priority booking now open for Club Shed members

General sale opens on Tue 16 September at 10:00

Phillip Vanderpleog lives in the Japanese capital. Looking for any work opportunities, he is employed by a ‘rental family’ company, which provides clients with actors who play stand-in roles of absent loved ones.

The work offers Phillip possibilities, relationships and unexpected joy that were previously missing from his life. However, things become complicated when the line between performance and reality is increasingly blurred, as Phillip immerses himself a little too much in the roles he is hired to play.

HIKARI's drama, which features an outstanding ensemble cast, is a profoundly moving and tenderly optimistic exploration of our need for connection, and a celebration of the beauty and wonder of forming a chosen family and community.

This preview is presented with the 69th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express


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