IT’S WORTH STAYING IN THIS ‘RENTAL’
Airbnb, Couchsurfing and similar platforms, where you vacation in someone’s house instead of a hotel, have taken a major hit due to COVID-19. Not only are people not traveling much but what used to be these apps’ primary appeal — getting to play like a local in some exotic, far-flung destination — now feels to some like playing Russian roulette.
Now comes “The Rental,” an effectively chilly little thriller about a vacation gone very wrong that is, for the home-sharing business, like a poisonous, little cinematic cherry on top of an especially toxic pandemic parfait.
Charlie (Dan Stevens), wife Michelle (Alison Brie), his business partner Mina (Sheila Vand) and his brother/Mina’s boyfriend, Josh (Jeremy Allen White), are urban, millennial Orgenonians who decide to take a getaway weekend to somewhere along the state’s rugged coast.
Charlie and Mina, who have some sort of start-up that’s about to pop, have long hours ahead of them, so why not a little downtime before the real work starts? And they’re all best friends, and that beautiful, well-appointed house online right along the beach above the crashing waves looks so perfect, and it’s not going to book itself. What could possibly go wrong?
If you say “everything,” you certainly don’t need a weatherman to know which way this wind is blowing.
As directed by actor Dave Franco, in his feature debut, from a script by Franco and Joe Swanberg (the director of “Drinking Buddies” and “Digging for Fire”), “The Rental” is a lean, well-crafted ensemble piece where the horror is less about jump scares and as much about what frights comes from within — our two, pictureperfect couples aren’t quite what they appear — as without.
But, yeah, there is something weird about this place. It could be the rangy, intolerant guy, Taylor (the always solid Toby Huss, “Halt and Catch Fire”), who manages the house for his brother. He turned down an online request from Mina, who’s Middle Eastern, to rent the property but approved Charlie a mere hour later. Mina wants to make a stink about that, but everyone else minimizes her feelings, telling her basically to get over it. I mean, look at this house! Check out that view! Have you seen the hot tub?
Or it could be something else altogether that’s the problem.
Though the stories are different, “The Rental” is reminiscent of the 2015 film “The Gift,” the feature-film directorial debut of another young actor, Joel Edgerton. Both feature tight-knit ensembles and psychological tension that comes from situations
that feel emotionally and physically authentic. “The Rental” even has the added benefit at clocking in at under 90 minutes, so there’s little wasted time.
Having said that, there is one big logic flaw in “The Rental” that might have you ready to throw the remote at the screen but, thankfully, the rest of the film is diverting enough that it’s not completely weighed down by it.
If nothing else, “The Rental” might make you pause for a few seconds, with a finger hovering nervously over the mouse, before booking that next dream vacation.
Have a good trip.