Is The Dave Franco Horror Film 'The Rental' Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
Is Dave Franco's directorial debut "The Rental," a horror film about two couples' weekend getaway gone awry, worth streaming this weekend? Here's what the reviews say.
The Movie Begins With Two Couples Making A Weekend Gateway
It begins with a click. The Rental's Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Mina (Sheila Vand) are just looking for a weekend getaway, a place to celebrate a business milestone with their romantic partners: his wife, Michelle (Alison Brie), and her boyfriend, Josh (Jeremy Allen White), who's also Charlie's brother.
[Slate]
[T]he quartet's weekend escape starts off on an awkward note when Mina becomes convinced that Taylor (Toby Huss), the gruff, vaguely creepy property manager, is bigoted toward her because of her Middle Eastern name. Things get a little more subtly gnarly when they realize Taylor just strolls into the rental whenever he wants to (an extremely relatable Airbnb fear).
[Vulture]
The Movie's Commentary On Race And Class Adds New Elements To This Entry Into The Horror Genre
On top of the charged intimacy of the group dynamic, the film piles on tensions of race and class. When the four reach the house, there's a prickly exchange between the owner's brother (character actor Toby Huss) and Mina, whose application was denied, presumably because of her Middle Eastern last name. She's guilty of her own assumptions: "You own this place?" she incredulously asks, the man's accent and working-class vibe not fitting her mental image of someone with money.
The Interpersonal Drama Is More Worth Watching Than The Horror
The real drama emerges from our four protagonists themselves. They may not be particularly likable, but they are recognizable, their passive-aggressive, first-do-no-harm demeanor toward each other clearly covering up all kinds of resentment and doubt
[Vulture]
He's (Dave Franco) working from a script he co-wrote with the mumblecore maven Joe Swanberg, and together they've created characters who are just interesting enough that, at times, I caught myself wishing that the film didn't have to turn into a thriller, so that we could hang out with them in a way that's more Edward Albee than Wes Craven.
[Variety]
The murder part almost seemed unnecessary—the interpersonal dynamics were fraught enough, and I found myself wishing the killers might get the address wrong so the delicately wrought psychodrama could continue uninterrupted.
[Wired]
It's A Diverting Movie, But It's Not Exactly Original
The Rental, which is the first movie directed by the actor Dave Franco, is a noteworthy entry in the bourgeoning minigenre of Airbnb horror movies, largely for how little spin it puts on the concept […] It's the Airbnb of movies, a brief stay with nice scenery that leaves things just where it found them.
[Slate]
Before long, though, the film turns into a fairly run-of-the-mill relationship drama centered around questions about who will learn about which romantic secret, as it explores the group's wildly unhealthy dynamic. It occasionally taps into the fear of being watched by way of some ominous point-of-view shots during this time, but not enough to maintain consistent dread. Mostly it feels familiar, and that only becomes much more prevalent as the film shifts into more traditional horror-thriller territory.
[The Week]
The Movie's Ending Falls Flat
I should say now that The Rental doesn't stick its landing—the ending is jarringly abrupt and vague, an ellipsis where an exclamation mark could be, and it diminishes an already modest movie. It's almost as if Franco and his cowriter Joe Swanberg filmed scenes as backup placeholders, intending to flesh out the conclusion later, and then forgot to replace them with an actual finale.
[Wired]
[A]fter all the care put into developing these relationships, the scares almost feel like an afterthought, as though the movie remembered last minute what genre it was supposed to be occupying and hastily improvised a violent climax.
TL: DR
The movie all in all isn't a total miss, with a handful of standout beats, including one that makes creative use of the sound of a shower. It just doesn't come together into something truly special, and the way it suddenly switches gears on more than one occasion makes it all too messy. Maybe Franco simply wanted to do too much in his first movie, or maybe he and co-writer Joe Swanberg were interested in the material for separate reasons. Either way, the result is a diverting but rocky trip.
[The Week]
Watch The Trailer
"The Rental" is available for streaming on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu.
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