The Rental is available to watch in select theaters and drive-ins, and On Demand and Digital, on July 24.
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What happens when Dave Franco (21 Jump Street, Neighbors, brother of James) assembles a cool and capable cast for a streamlined single-location shoot at the shore? You get crisp, low-key terror in the form of two couples being stalked by an unseen presence at a coastal Airbnb.
The Rental is a wise and welcome first feature for Franco as a director. It’s dialogue-heavy, character-driven, and doesn’t fully lean into the horror aspects until the third act. It plays things simple, straight, and holds its cards super close to the vest – so much so that the fullest explanation for what happens occurs during the closing credits. Co-writing The Rental with mumblecore pioneer Joe Swanberg, Franco wraps a relationship drama into a nightmare scenario involving paranoia and panic that feels grounded enough to tug at real life fears and frustrations that we all face.
Even when the pulse picks up at the one hour mark, The Rental still remains a very clean and controlled film. It has a quiet art-house air to it that works really well in this new era of A24-style indie insidiousness. It’s also a nod to the time-honored tradition of horror films that feature a character’s personal troubles colliding headfirst with random maniacal murder-sprees. Hitchcock’s Psycho may be being the most famous example of this, since it was the game-changer.
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The tight cast on hand for this slay-cation carnage features Dan Stevens, Alison Brie (Franco’s real life wife), Shameless’ Jeremy Allen White, and Snowpiercer’s Sheila Vand. Stevens’ Charlie and Brie’s Michelle are married, while Charlie’s struggling younger brother Josh (White) worries he’s not good enough for his successful, smart girlfriend Mina (Vand). Mina also happens to be Charlie’s business partner and “work wife,” who he clearly has feelings for. So much so that when the film opens with Charlie and Mina looking at the rental property online, one could easily assume they’re the lovers looking for a romantic getaway.
The two couples then head off to the beautiful beach house for the weekend, with just enough passive-aggressive comments and festering resentments to let you know they’re in for a very bad weekend. One of the best parts about The Rental is that even if these four weren’t headed into a violently horrific situation, things were probably going to fall apart for them very badly anyhow. Miscommunication, misunderstandings, and looming jealousy — mixed with party drugs — would have undone them all after two days regardless.
Plus, adding an extra spark to this powder keg is the property’s caretaker, Taylor, played by talented screen veteran Toby Huss. Suspected of being both a racist and a voyeur, Taylor’s presence, and pop ins, only works to heighten the tension among the group. When you mix this with the promise of infidelity between characters, it’s a recipe for interpersonal disaster.
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Staying away from spoilers here except to say that the film narratively switches gears for the final 30 minutes, The Rental keeps you guessing until it lays, at your feet, a very stark and obvious answer. When the dust settles, you do discover what exactly these four fools fell victim to and, in keeping with the movie’s noble no-frills presentation, it all works. The cast runs through an admirable spectrum of emotions as they move from selfish, obtuse obelisks of privilege to panicked and desperate dopes who inadvertently ruin their own lives and futures. The Rental isn’t here to make a big splash, but instead unsettle, unnerve, and unravel you.
Source: IGN.com Dave Franco's The Rental Review