Why ‘Rental Family’ is the most underrated drama film on Hulu
Why ‘Rental Family’ is the most underrated drama film on Hulu
Brendan Fraser delivers one of his warmest performances yet in this quiet, heartfelt Tokyo-set drama.
I think it’s fair to say that when most people talk about Hulu, TV is what gets all the love. That’s the reputation, and there’s a good reason for it, from Hulu originals to ABC and FX shows. But that doesn’t mean you should sleep on the movie section. I did a deep dive, you can read it here, but Hulu has a pretty dang good movie catalogue, and there’s one in particular you should know about. I noticed “Rental Family” sitting at No. 1 on the movie chart recently and thought, wait… what is this? Now I know. If you’re in the mood for a heartfelt, quietly moving drama that sneaks up on you in the best way, this is the one I’d watch.
Best under-the-radar drama movie on Hulu
Why ‘Rental Family’ is the most underrated drama movie on Hulu
“Rental Family” has one of those premises that sounds a little odd on paper. Brendan Fraser plays Phillip Vanderploeg, an American actor in Tokyo who’s struggling to find purpose. He ends up taking a job with a Japanese rental family agency, which basically means he gets hired to fill emotional gaps in strangers’ lives. He shows up as a mock mourner at a staged funeral. He pretends to be a groom so someone else can secretly marry the person they actually love. He even steps in as a long-lost father for an 11-year-old girl whose mom needs help getting her into a prestigious school. And naturally, what starts as performance slowly turns into something real.
Now, I didn’t even get a whiff of this movie when it came and went from theaters. It premiered at festivals, had a proper wide release in November of 2025, and then disappeared without many of us even noticing. There was no big ad blitz or even awards-season frenzy. It landed in a crowded window, and before a lot of people even realized it was out, it was already headed to streaming. That’s been the story for a lot of mid-budget adult dramas lately. They don’t get the oxygen they used to (along with comedies, actually… but if you’re a horror fan, you’re covered). Once it hit Hulu in February, though, it felt like it finally found the right audience. This is exactly the kind of movie you stumble across and end up loving.
Director Hikari keeps everything grounded and intimate. Tokyo isn’t shot like a neon postcard. It’s cramped apartments, quiet streets, and delivery trucks rolling through the countryside. The movie lives in small human moments. It balances funnier moments and real emotion without ever tipping into heavy-handed territory. And Fraser is the glue that holds it together. After the intensity of “The Whale,” this performance feels lighter, more open, but still packed with empathy. He radiates warmth here as you watch Phillip slowly connect with these clients, especially the young girl he pretends to father to, and it feels earned instead of manipulative.
What really stuck with me is how sincere it is. It’s about empathy, about chosen connection, and how sometimes just showing up for someone, even in a strange, artificial way, can change both of you. The story even circles back to another funeral near the end, echoing the beginning, and you can feel how much Phillip has grown. It’s not flashy or loud. But it’s honest, and it tells the truth, which is all you can ask for as an audience member watching a movie like this. Check it out.
What is ‘Rental Family’ about?
At its core, “Rental Family” is about a man who rediscovers purpose by pretending to be someone else. Phillip Vanderploeg is a down-on-his-luck American actor living in Tokyo who stumbles into work with a rental family agency. He’s hired to fill roles in other people’s lives, whether that’s standing in at a funeral, posing as a groom, or acting as a father to a young girl. What begins as a series of awkward gigs slowly turns into a genuine connection. As Phillip forms real bonds with the people he’s supposed to be “playing” family for, he’s forced to take a hard look at himself and his own loneliness and figure out who he actually is when the performance ends.
Rental Family
An American actor in Tokyo 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.
Other underappreciated drama movies on Hulu
If “Rental Family” works for you and you’re in the mood to keep digging around Hulu’s movie section, there are a few other low-key dramas worth checking out. “F Valentine’s Day” is about a woman who hates that her birthday falls on Valentine’s Day and goes to Greece to derail her boyfriend’s proposal before it happens. “Urchin” follows a homeless young man in London spiraling through addiction and survival, then trying to claw his way back after a violent arrest throws his life into a new phase.
And “To Catch a Killer” is a crime thriller where a troubled Baltimore cop gets pulled into an FBI task force to profile and hunt a sniper after a mass shooting kicks off a citywide manhunt. All are very different movies, but all are worth watching.
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