‘Rental Family’ Trailer: Brendan Fraser Plays An Actor Hired By A Tokyo Rental Family Agency In TIFF-Bound Dramedy

After spending a good amount of time in dramatic roles and earning a Best Actor Oscar statue for his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Brendan Fraser has a new comedy, “Rental Family,” which is heading to the Toronto International Film Festival before general audiences can view it in November.

The movie takes place in Tokyo and explores a quirky element of Japanese culture, the ability to hire complete strangers to pretend to be members of your family or friends. As Fraser plays a struggling actor who is convinced to take a gig with one of these rental family agencies, and agrees to accommodate his clients while discovering a new purpose in life.

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HIKARI directs from their script co-written with Stephen Blahut, as “Rental Family” also has a supporting cast that features Takehiro Hira (“Shogun”), Mari Yamamoto (“Kate”), Shannon Gorman (“The Irishman”), and Akira Emoto (“Unforgiven”).

An official synopsis for the pic courtesy of Searchlight Pictures:

Set against modern-day Tokyo, “Rental Family follows an American actor (Fraser) who struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients’ worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality. Confronting the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection.

Fraser’s comedic career includes projects such as “Enicio Man,” “Airheads” (someone please get a sequel going, already), “Bedazzled,” “Blast From The Past,” and “With Honors.” So, this feels like a great comedic concept for Fraser to stretch his acting skills with what looks to be a heartwarming dramedy and invoke plenty of emotion.

You can watch that trailer for “Rental Family” below as the pic heads to TIFF before heading to theaters on November 21.