Dave Franco makes his directorial debut with “The Rental”, a surprisingly nimble horror-thriller that leads you in several different directions before fully revealing itself to be something I wasn’t expecting. The story (co-written by Franco and Joe Swanberg) makes some things a little too obvious, but the high-energy final 15 minutes comes out of nowhere and left a pretty big smile on my face.
The story follows two couples who rent a beautiful oceanside home for a weekend getaway. The first couple is Charlie (Dan Stevens) and his wife Michelle (Alison Brie). The other is Charlie’s brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and his girlfriend Mina (Sheila Vand) who also happens to be Charlie’s close-working business partner. If that sounds a little icky to you then you’re right where the movie wants you. In fact the very first scene firmly plants a suspicion in the your head that sticks there for much of the film.
Photo Courtesy of IFC Films
The four arrive at the remote yet picturesque vacation home and are greeted by the property’s slimy caretaker Taylor (Toby Huss). He gives them the tour, says several creepy things, and then leaves them to their fun and relaxing weekend. Or so they think. Franco takes his time uncoiling his story, putting a ton of early focus on his characters. They prove to be a pretty flawed bunch.
You could say “The Rental” inadvertently makes a strong “Say No to Drugs” case because things really go south once the four decide to take ecstasy. I won’t risk spoiling things by elaborating, but suffice to say most of the bad stuff that follow comes from the group’s ill-advised decision to get high. Secrets are unearthed, jealousy erupts, bad decisions (as they’re prone to do) lead to bad consequences. Soon this fun celebratory getaway is boiling with tension.
Photo Courtesy of IFC Films
But then Franco adds another layer to his film once Mina discovers a hidden camera in the house. “The Rental” goes into full psychological thriller mode as we and the characters wonder who’s watching them? Why are they watching? Even more, what have they seen? And just when you think you’ve figured the movie out Franco hits you with one more change of direction that kinda turns the whole movie on its head (in a good way).
“The Rental” has a lot going on yet it clocks at just under 90 minutes. Franco’s economical storytelling keeps things rolling while giving a surprising amount of attention to his characters. Yet there are instances where he channels things a little too clearly, robbing some story threads of their suspense. It may be an unfair criticism considering we’ve been conditioned by the genre itself to expect certain things. But the film gets it right where it counts most – it’s entertaining, it keeps you locked in and it ends in a fun and unexpected place. A solid first feature behind the camera for Dave Franco. “The Rental” premieres this Friday on VOD.
VERDICT – 3.5 STARS
keithandthemovies.com 
It doesn’t sound too horrifically scary and it has to be the first thing “Lip” has done since “Shameless” ended.
Nope, it’s not particularly scary. But it is entertaining. And it moves at such a swift pace it’s easy to forget some of its stumbles. I think you’ll have fun with it.
Awesome review. I was undecided on this one but now it is a must see.
I appreciate it. It’s fun, not flawless, but entertaining throughout. I admit, it surprised me.
I wasn’t a big fan of the rental. I mean it was pretty and all, but a little too big and hollow. It swallowed my wife up and she looked too small in it, but it was the only way we could see her in a casket before she was cuminoted. We did get the ashes back in a black plastic box. I think the funeral parlor took advantage of us because they got mad when we wanted cuminotion with out viewing and then they made us get the rental so she could lay a corpse before she was creatnatonned.
Are you ok?
You get the weirdest comments on any blog I follow 🤣
HA!!!!! I would like to argue with you but I actually agree! 🙂
Urk yet another horror movie, 🙄🙄 no wonder the world’s gone mad. 😜
I figured this would be right up your alley 😉 . This is tough to even categorize as horror. It really only goes that direction in the last 15 minutes. Most of it is an old-fashioned thriller. Still not sure if it’s something you would go for it.
Probably not, I don’t do ‘icky’ 😀 😀
Understood. There is definitely some ickiness!
I’m not up for Icky either, so thanks for the warning. (and Fraggle – nice photos)
Thanks! 😊
The ickiness is in the relationships. Nothing that will turn you off too much. Just….icky. 😂
Forgot to say, did The Old Guard at the weekend, think I liked it more than you did 😊
I checked for your review. I think there are several folks who liked it more than me.
I did do one, that and A History of Violence this week, that one was excellent.
This REALLY has me excited! It’s cool to see Dave Franco directing something and that it turns out pretty good. I wouldn’t have ever pictured him directing, don’t know what ever made me think he wouldn’t but he seems more of an actor. But this clearly proves that’s not entirely true.
Yep, it was a nice surprise. It’s not a Top 10 of the Year type of movie but he shows quite a bit a craft in his direction. The script is a little erratic, but it’s a fun little thriller.
So is he a better filmmaker than his brother?
Hard to say with such a small sample size, but you should give this one a whirl. I think you’ll find it to be surprisingly fun.
Think I loved the first 20-30 minutes, and slowly lost interest once all the characters and the script don’t have more than one layer. But, it’s a fairly entertaining, disposable movie. Type of movie I’d watch and enjoy with a girlfriend or something on a Friday night before moving on to other things. For a debut director, it’s an overall success in my book if I’m at least somewhat intrigued with what they’ll do next.
Not something that’ll be on my Top 10 list at the end of the year but I had fun with it. To be honest more than I expected to.
Bold of Dave Franco to cast Dan Stevens as his real life wife’s husband. He’s too hot for words. This sounds like something I’d be interested in. I’m going to check it out.
Ha! I didn’t think about that! 😂