The Rental (2020)

The Rental (2020)

One of the best films of 2020?
The year must not have been very prolific!

I would have loved to say that Dave Franco is a promising director, especially since I like him as an actor. But the film falls short of what it could have been. Still, for his directorial debut, it’s not too bad.

In fact, this film is really great for more than half of it, I’d even say three quarters. We know there’s something wrong, but we also feel it’s stupid to immediately think that someone is racist. We sense that someone is watching and filming everything that’s going on…

The atmosphere is good, quite stressful, the pace of the film is good, as is the dialogue.
So what spoils it? Well, it’s the ending, once again. It ends with a sort of slasher home invasion… and while Dave has managed to avoid many of the usual horror and suspense tropes and has managed to surprise us… he then falls into everything that has become commonplace. And a cliffhanger ending.

Spoiler alert!!!

It has become commonplace to see a major criminal get away with it, simply move to a new location and start over as if nothing had happened. And we don’t even know his motives. The writers don’t even try to create a story to explain the whys and wherefores anymore. How lazy!

As far as I can remember, it was in 8MM (1999) that I first saw a criminal without motivation, motive or reason. Just for fun!

Dan Stevens is a kind of repulsive and annoying Chris Evans, at least here.

The character played by Sheila Vand will annoy more than a few people. But others will recognise themselves in her.

Jeremy Allen White plays a character with two sides.

And finally, Alison Brie is the only one I knew before. She was great in her supporting role in Scream 4, for example. She played Emily Blunt’s sister in the romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement. To prepare for the role, she adopted a British accent and refined it by listening to recordings of Blunt, who is English. Chris Pratt and Rhys Ifans were also in the cast, as was Jason Segel. We will see her again in Travis Knight‘s Masters of the Universe in 2026, playing the role of Evil-Lyn!

I found this review below, which isn’t bad:

“The suspense is built slowly, entertainingly.

THE RENTAL is a tribute to old detective films and thrillers, as it does not use CGI.

The suspense is constant, even if the first 35 minutes are very difficult and long. After that, the film becomes exciting until the end.

Unfortunately, the ending is disappointing and many questions remain unanswered. The motive, in particular, is unknown.

I had a great time and found the slow pace of the writing pleasantly disconcerting.

For fans of the genre, it’s definitely worth a look. But if you’re looking for meaning, depth and logic, you’ll only find moderate satisfaction.”

So, as you know, I disagree that it’s difficult to watch the first half hour.
For the rest, that’s quite accurate.