Why is “Rental Family” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic elements, some strong language, and suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of implied sex scenes, a marriage as a distraction, a man collapsing and being taken to the hospital, a man seemingly suffering from dementia, a couple of people being slapped in the face, several arguments, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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An actor (Brendan Fraser) living in Japan accepts an unorthodox gig with a company that provides actors to fill real-life roles that are missing in other people’s lives. Also with Shinji Ozeki, Helen Sadler, Kaoru Mizuki, Takehiro Hira, Mari Yamamoto, Shôhei Uno, Sonoe Mizoguchi, Keiji Yamashita and Kimura Bun. Directed by Hikari. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Japanese with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:43]

Rental Family SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A woman lies on top of a man in bed and they kiss and talk; the man is shirtless and we see his bare shoulders and chest (sex is implied). Two women kiss tenderly and embrace. A man and a woman embrace.
► A man and a younger woman get married; we understand that it is a marriage arranged with an actor playing the role of the husband so the bride can leave the country with her female partner (her family would not approve). A woman says, “I help people physically” and it is implied that she is a sex worker. A woman tells another woman that she has been having an affair with her husband and that she is there to apologize (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► A woman dances onstage and raises her legs to reveal her bare legs, as men in the audience watch. Women wear short dresses that reveal bare legs to the mid-thighs and cleavage, as they sing onstage at what seems to be a karaoke establishment.

Rental Family VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A man walks out of a restaurant without his shoes and stumbles along the sidewalk seeming confused about his whereabouts; he is nearly struck by a car when he steps off the curb but another man stops him and they return to the restaurant. A man wakes up and sees that an elderly man that was with him is gone; he panics calling for the man and searching outside for him until he finds him digging in the soil for a container that holds personal artifacts. A woman slaps another woman hard in the face (we see an abrasion on her cheek later) in a crowded restaurant after the woman tells her that she has been having an affair with her husband and that she is there to apologize. A man talks about his wife having become ill when he was away and that she died.
► A man walks into a funeral and we see mourners gathered and sharing thoughts of the deceased; as one woman speaks, the man in the coffin lifts his head and speaks to her (he is not dead) and we later see the man speaking to the actors that performed the ceremony for him and he says that he feels like he deserves to exist. People panic when a man cannot be found before a wedding ceremony where he is to play the part of the groom; he is discovered in a bathroom stall and a woman berates him and convinces him to do his job.
► A man in a boardroom filled with cardboard likenesses of other men grovels in front of a man that reprimands him and calls him names; the man pushes him over and he falls to the floor, as he apologizes for something that he did. A man convinces another man to go to his home village to recapture memories before he dies; they travel by train and car and walk along hilly paths to reach the house and when returning, the man collapses; we see a hospital sequence and the man that helped him is taken by police for kidnapping the older man.
► A young girl yells at a man when he gives her a gift; she says, “I hate it. You can’t bribe me” and runs away; the man chases her, she pushes him away and then makes him promise to never leave her saying that she will make him eat a thousand needles if he does. A woman argues with a man when he hires her to apologize to his wife for having an affair with him; the man pushes her and she tells the woman the truth about what the man is doing and leaves; we see the wife slapping the man in the face and yelling, as the other woman leaves.
► A young man says, “I’m going to puke” when pretending to be a lawyer at a man’s home, as a police investigator arrives. A young girl asks a man, “Why do adults always lie?” A man says, “Writers are thieves.” A man and his adult daughter argue. A young girl and her mother argue. A woman argues with a man and tells him not to lecture her. A man is told not to get too attached to his client. A man and a young girl hug goodbye when he tells her he must return to America for work. A man talks about his regret for not having had a relationship with his daughter when she was young. A man is told that he will be playing the role of a father to a young girl, who needs him to take part in an interview so that she can attend a private school. A man encourages a boy that he will do better next time when the child says that he missed a penalty kick and that he was responsible for his team losing a game.
► A man lies dead in an open coffin, as mourners place flowers around him, the cover is placed on the coffin and it is carried to a hearse. A man lies down in a coffin after a funeral and is startled by another man. A man watches people in a neighboring apartment building, as he sits alone in his apartment and he seems sad. A toothpaste commercial shows people dressed as dirt and bacteria, as a toothpaste superhero attacks them with a brush. A man wears a tree costume and we see his face through a knot and his feet at the bottom of the trunk.

Rental Family LANGUAGE 5

 – About 2 F-words, 6 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, name-calling (token white guy, stupid, cockroach, fake, rebellious), exclamations (cool), 1 religious profanity (GD), 1 religious exclamation (e.g. God exists within us, a man prays in temples in several scenes). | profanity glossary |

Rental Family SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man drinks a shot of liquor and a glass of beer is on the bar in front of him, a man and a woman drink sake during a wedding ceremony, a man drinks a beer in a restaurant, a bottle of champagne is seen in a bucket in a hotel room, two men drink beer with a meal, people drink whiskey in a bar, and two men drink sake.

Rental Family DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Truth, mental health issues, stigma of mental health issues, emotion, regret, forgiveness, dementia, disappointment, jazz music, pretending, secrets, relationships, parenting, Japanese culture, faith, kidnapping.

Rental Family MESSAGE

 – Honesty is best in relationships.