Hikari Discusses Filming Brendan Fraser in Cute Movie ‘Rental Family’
by Alex Billington
November 19, 2025
Source: YouTube
“She is a creator who has a strong intuition [for] the human condition – and [can do] this with sincerity, without ever being cutesy or cliché…” This charming and uplifting new film hits theaters this week and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Searchlight Pictures has released another charming behind-the-scenes featurette for Family Rentalfrom the filmmaker known as “Hikari” who also directed episodes of the series “Beef” and the film 37 seconds. Discover the joy of unexpected connections. A lonely American actor living in Tokyo begins working for a Japanese “rental family” company to play stand-in roles in the lives of others. Throughout his journey, he discovers surprising connections and unexpected joys within his family of origin in Japan. This modest film stars the Oscar-winning actor Brendan Fraserwith Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shannon Gorman& Akira Emoto. This making-of featurette talks about Hikari working with Brendan Fraser, why she chose him for this role, and a little about how she feels working on set with everyone. I watched this movie recently and it’s quite cozy and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy by the end. It’s definitely worth watching.
Here is the “Hikari and Brendan“featurette for Hikari’s film Family Rentalon Searchlight YouTube:
You can watch the first official trailer for Hikari’s Family Rental film here for even more footage.
Set in modern-day Tokyo, Rental Family follows an American actor (Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser) who struggles to find his purpose until he lands an unusual job: working for a Japanese “rental family” agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. By immersing himself in the world of his new clients, he begins to form real connections that quickly blur the boundaries between performance and reality. Confronted with the moral complexities of his work, he rediscovers purpose, belonging, and the quiet beauty of human connection. Family Rental is directed by the Japanese filmmaker known as Hikari (aka Mitsuyo Miyazaki), director of the film 37 seconds previously, as well as episodes of A24’s “Beef.” The screenplay is written by Stephen Blahut and Hikari. Produced by Julia Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman, Shin Yamaguchi and Hikari. This premiere took place at the 2025 Toronto Film Festival a few months ago. Searchlight will debut with Hikari Family Rental in US cinemas nationwide from November 21, 2025 coming this fall. Do you want to watch this?
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