Hikari
25 connections found
Filmography
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Connections, in both directions
Think Lost in Translation (dir. Sofia Coppola, 2003)…
This nuance distinguishes the film from Lost in Translation, to which comparisons are inevitable. Unlike Coppola’s moody tale of disconnection, Rental Family treats Tokyo not as a mysterious backdrop but as a real home Phillip desperately wants to belong to.
…en una variante de 'Lost in Translation' (o el reverso de la magnífica serie de Nathan Fielder en HBO Max, 'Los ensayos') centrada en el buen rollo entre personas y culturas…
Seeing a lonely American actor moving through Japan obviously brings to mind Bill Murray’s sardonic turn in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation.
Lulu Wang’s The Farewell (2019) beautifully demonstrates the possibility of a love that isn’t in tension with lying, devotion that protects the beloved from emotional burden that doesn’t promote good living.
Echoing a similar dynamic seen in Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, our American protagonist is thrown by the idea of lying to and for real people.
The latter themes makes “Rental Family” a potential companion piece with Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” (2019) as Phillip begins to open himself up to Japan and a more eastern way of looking at the world.
From Werner Herzog’s Family Romance, LLC (2019) to endless YouTube documentaries, the “rental family” industry—where clients hire actors to play fathers, spouses, or friends—has become modern shorthand for urban alienation.
Werner Herzog made an entire movie about it, Family Romance LLC, one of his rare narrative features.
The phenomenon has been made into a film before, but few have probably seen Werner Herzog's 2019 "Family Romance, LLC," which centers on a storyline also central to cowriter (with Stephen Blahut)/director Hikari's ("37 Seconds," TV's 'Beef') film…
…o el reverso de la magnífica serie de Nathan Fielder en HBO Max, 'Los ensayos'…
What if Hirokazu Kore-eda directed an episode of The Rehearsal? On paper, this is what Rental Family brings to mind. Like the Japanese auteur’s brilliant After Life, or Nathan Fielder’s strange series, this Brendan Fraser-fronted film follows an acting troupe committed to helping people on a bigger scale through their craft.
…which often plays like something Nathan Fielder might attempt on “The Rehearsal.”
For all the Anoras and Pretty Women, Rental Family is one of the few taking a microscope to the friendship side of business.
Phillip’s transformative experiences lead to a slight Pretty Woman effect in Rental Family, where the hired employee or undercover person falls for the role, and doesn’t want to or know best how to exit their place when the work is done.
…him overlooking his neighbors in a Rear Window-inspired scene…
(Think of something akin to “The Apartment.”)
Todos nos hemos sentido alguna vez como si fuéramos Jim Carrey en 'El show de Truman', pero pocos se preguntan qué pasa con los cientos de actores contratados para mantener el circo de pulgas.
Like the Japanese auteur’s brilliant After Life, or Nathan Fielder’s strange series, this Brendan Fraser-fronted film follows an acting troupe committed to helping people on a bigger scale through their craft.
Rental Family is one of those films made with the intention of pouring an ounce of softness into the world. Other examples being We Bought A Zoo, Minari, and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
Rental Family is one of those films made with the intention of pouring an ounce of softness into the world. Other examples being We Bought A Zoo, Minari, and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
Jon Thor Birgisson (We Bought a Zoo) and Alex Somers’ (Causeway) score hums underneath like a gentle radio signal from another planet…
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022)
Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp
influenced Rental Family (2025)
Themes
Rental Family is one of those films made with the intention of pouring an ounce of softness into the world. Other examples being We Bought A Zoo, Minari, and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
Like with Broker, where the characters are doing something despicable but in a likeable manner, filmmaker HIKARI has achieved a similar feat with Rental Family that essentially deals with a company that manipulates peoples’ emotions for their clients’ benefit.
These images of residential windows and trains are reminiscent of “All of Us Strangers” (2023) or “Black Tea” (2024).
For all the Anoras and Pretty Women, Rental Family is one of the few taking a microscope to the friendship side of business.
…after being spoiled by Left-Handed Girl and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl this year, movies commenting on traditionalist aspects of their social culture should feel fairly bold…
These images of residential windows and trains are reminiscent of “All of Us Strangers” (2023) or “Black Tea” (2024).
As he did in “The Whale,” Brendan Fraser brings quiet empathy to an introspective character who feels disconnection from society.
After winning an Oscar for The Whale, Fraser plays a fish out of water…
It’s been two years since Brendan Fraser made his remarkable comeback with his Oscar-winning performance in Darren Aronofsky’s harrowing film The Whale.
…something that, as Fraser proved in The Whale, he is more than capable of navigating…
Fresh from his Oscar win in a far darker film, The Whale, Brendan Fraser has clearly had his pick of roles…
…featuring Brendan Fraser in his first leading role since he won an Oscar for The Whale.
It is intriguing that this hired, fake father is more devoted to his fictional daughter and turns down opportunities to spend time with her considering the growing slate of films, “Sentimental Value” (2025), “Jay Kelly” (2025) and “Hamnet” (2025) that desperately make an excuse for exculpating fathers for ditching their families for their careers because of their contributions to the world.
Films like Eternity (and even Rental Family, another TIFF film that had its theatrical release this month) provide audiences with a safe haven.