Ever fancied an extra family member or new best friend supplied on demand and available for as long as required? Ever dreamt you could summon up a surrogate to explain yourself out of an awkward romantic entanglement, or a presentable spouse to secure an employment opportunity (like Alan Partridge’s rented wife in the ‘Hamilton Water Breaks’ episode)? All of this, and more, is readily available in Japan, for a fee, courtesy of the ‘companionship agencies’. This decidedly odd business is the subject of the film Rental Family currently on release across the UK.  

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The film, directed by the mononymous ‘Hikari’ and starring Brendan Fraser, tells the story of a struggling American actor in Tokyo who chances upon an agency that supplies surrogate family members or companions to the lonely, or otherwise in need. The film focusses on two long-running contracts with particular moral complexities: a stand-in ‘father’ for a little girl so that with her single mother a happy family front can be presented at a crucial interview for a prestigious school; and a companion (posing as a journalist writing a biographical article) for a famous actor in his final days.  

It’s a film about faking it then, so how real is it? According to the director and Fraser, very. Hikari claims there are around 300 such agencies in Japan that can supply you with pretty much........

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