The Rental (2020)
Directed by Dave Franco
I was quite happy to learn that I live within a half-hour of five Drive-Ins because even if four of them are cycling through the same family films, the ones that don’t even have dogs in them, it means I can still find one that has a screen dedicated to two new horror movies. I’ll cover the other one later this week, but be forewarned that wasn’t nearly as successful a viewing as this one, which was shocking as I believe this is Dave Franco’s debut as a horror director. I didn’t have many feelings toward Dave Franco before seeing this movie, but after watching The Rental I am definitely looking forward to whatever horror film he makes next because this movie is every vacationer’s worst nightmare.
Wow, Socializing With No Masks? This Must Be Science-Fiction.
In a world where you don’t need to social distance and stay home all day, four friends get together to take a group vacation, renting a lavish house in the middle of nowhere, so they can unwind with hiking and hard drugs. After an encounter with the odd and passive-aggressive caretaker of the house, the group soon settles in, giving some time to establish the messy relationships they all find themselves in and have the group find some suspicious things happening around the house. Soon after, a shocking discovery is made that sets the group on a dark path from which there may be no escape. Yes, this is vague to avoid spoilers.
Quality Foreshadowing That Never Feels Like Foreshadowing.
I didn’t talk much about the plot, it’s kind of difficult to while avoiding giving away the whole movie, but I am a big fan of not just where the plot ends up going, which is pretty great, but also how it gets there. There’s great conservation of plot detail that I’m a huge fan of, most of the information you get is foreshadowing in some way, but it never feels like obvious foreshadowing if that makes any sense. Everything that happens, especially in the first act, is important and fits together effectively. This casual foreshadowing is great and what makes it work so well is the expert performances that manage to sell it.
Strong Performances Throughout. Good, Natural Acting.
The performances here are most certainly what made The Rental work so well for me because everyone manages a natural, and at times, understated performance that makes this story feel real. Everyone feels like a believable person and makes decisions, for the most part, that makes sense for these people to make in the situation they are in. Shout out to Allison Brie specifically, between this and Horse Girl I’m glad to see her appearing in more horror stuff even if I wish she had a bit more to do here. Otherwise, I did greatly enjoy the chemistry that the cast has, which makes the messy character relationships believable without being overly melodramatic, though things do tip into the absurd at points.
More Tense Than Scary, But Plenty Of Thrills.
I haven’t talked too much about the actual horror aspects of this film because I couldn’t live with myself if I spoiled it for you but please rest assured that The Rental is, what the kids would call, spooky. There’s a clean and simple first act, but once that tension starts ratcheting up it never stops, and that leads to so many great scenes that had me completely involved in every terrible thing happening to these people who, even if I didn’t always like them, are always understandable. The simplicity of the setup adds to the terror and, while I love many horror movies that have less than realistic scenarios, the fact that everything feels so real makes the entire story so much more visceral.
I Think It Should Be Obvious I Like The Rental. Also, One Spoiler.
If you can’t tell yet, I am a pretty big fan of The Rental. It’s a solid, well-crafted movie about the messy relationships, secrets, and the terrors that can lurk in ordinary activities. As an added bonus, unlike many of the bizarre and disgusting movies I’ve seen recently, I can give this film a broad recommendation without needing to somehow qualify that. If you like horror, you’ll probably like The Rental, but its also for people who are into intense dramas and thrillers. I saw this is at a Drive-In but you can also rent it on Video On Demand if Drive-Ins are not your style. I will spoil one thing about The Rental that might be a deal-breaker for some of you, a plot point about a small adorable dog who meets some kind of peril. The dog lives.
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