Hikari cemented her name as promising director in 2019 by delivering the uplifting and empowering narrative 37 Seconds (2019). Within her first-feature film – the transformative journey of Yuma (Mei Kayama), a girl with cerebral palsy, Hikari highlighting that a subject, to obtain any kind of independence, must install some form of separation with respect to the parental Other. In her second feature film, she emphasizes that the subject, who has fulfilled the internal demand for separation, nevertheless needs the Other to prop up his ego with a purposeful signified.  

Rental Family commences when Phillip (Brendan Frazer), after performing as a sad American at a fake funeral, is invited by Shinji Taka (Takehiro Hira), the president of Rental Family inc., to work for his company. Reluctantly, he accepts his invitation. The first challenge given to him is to become a groom. Then, he receives the difficult task to act as the long-lost father of Mia (Shannon Gorman) as well as turn himself into a writer to mend the failing self-worth of actor Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto).

Hikari opens her heartwarming narrative with a visually appealing sequence that evocatively hints at the struggle many subjects have within contemporary Japanese society – the overvaluation of capitalistic consumption, the impoverishment of social bonds, and the increased sense of solitude. The image of Phillip drinking alcohol while peering, through his window, into the lives of others across the street, signals his frustrated desire for some sort of interpersonal connection. 

The staged performance of the funeral, in which Mr Daito (Shohei Uno) plays the deceased surrounded by a rented audience of mourners, reaffirms this societal ill and allows the spectator to gain a better grasp on which desire is in play. The desire for interpersonal connection is but a reformulation of the desire for recognition by the Other. The Other’s sign of recognition is, as Daito’s statement underlines, instrumental in making the subject feel that he deserves to exist, that his existence as subject has meaning. Philips’ act of lying down within the coffin after the service has ended re-affirms that he, as subject lacking the recognition of the Other, struggles with the very signified of his own life.

Via Yoshie (Misato Morita), who turns to Rental Family Inc. to stage a wedding for her parents and wider family, Hikari emphasizes another element within Japanese society that can complicate the subject’s coming-into being and meddle with his sense of self-worth: the network of traditional societal expectations and the dismissive discourses concerning same-sex couples, single mothers, … etc. The turn to fiction is, in this sense, an attempt to free oneself of the oppressive weight of expectations imposed on the subject by his parental Other and clear the path to realize oneself as subject within the societal field on one’s own accord.  

However, while human-rental services aim to resolve this societal problem of solitude, mediate between the subject and the societal expectations he is subjected to by the Other, or repair social fantasies (of marital harmony), this commodified solution follows the same capitalistic dynamic that exacerbates the societal problem. It is a business that thrives on offering mere band-aids – fantasies to believe in – instead of seeking to bring about permanent subjective solutions. The entrapment of the subject in an endless cycle of consumption to cover-up his lack-of-being does not only over-erotizes the gadget but pushes the subject to use interactions merely as ways to combat his subjective emptiness and serve his (ego’s) immediate needs for pleasure (General-note 1).

Hikari beautifully evokes that the emptiness of the subject subjected to capitalistic consumerist logic is not caused by a lack of pleasure, but by a fundamental lack of recognition. Human rental services respond to that lack by offering the subject a commodified fiction to stage the symbolic recognition they crave (General-note 2). The fiction sorts effects not only because most of our interactions play out in the imaginary – ego and alter-ego, but because the actor/actress, the support of the medicative fiction, utilizes signifiers and must bring his physical presence into play.

Phillips’s initial struggle to perform is closely related to the fact that the performance of the fiction, by inserted into fabric of concrete daily life, sorts concrete effects on subjects – e.g. performing Yoshie’s marriage affects the narrative of her parents as well the narrative they have of her. Later in the narrative, conflicts arise between him and those who pay for his service because he plays his role too well – because he, in service of his own subjective need for recognition, starts to respond too well to the emotional needs of his targets.   

It is by introducing these conflicts to the spectator that Hikari succeeds in critically touching upon an interactional dynamic that is quite prevalent in Japanese society. What Phillip as foreign element exposes is the fact that the familial Other, acting in service of what he believes what is good for the subject, ends up ignoring the subject’s emotional needs – e.g. Mia’s mother does not listen to her; Kikuo Hasegawa’s daughter remains ignorant of his wishes. The good the other imposes on the subject blinds him to the good the subject emotionally needs.       

This critical note does not detract from the fact that the message of Rental Family is ultimately heart-warmingly positive. Hikari utilizes the cultural phenomenon of human-rental businesses to underline not only that the participation in such commodified fictions sorts subjective effects, but also to deliver an uplifting reminder that what saves the subject of the abyss of his own nothingness is the encounter, is the exchange of ‘connecting’ and ‘recognizing’ signifiers. With Rental Family, Hikari shows that the fictional frame inaugurates a symbolic space (e.g. father and daughter) that allows the circulation of the signifier to sort subjective effects on the target as well as the performer; the signifier affects the subject behind the role, the performed ego, and impacts his unvocalized struggles (General-note 3).

What pulls the spectator, first and foremost, into Rental Family is the dynamic rhythm of the visuals. However, Hikari’s refined manipulation of the pace of her composition does not merely create an inviting visual flow, but also enables her to create a rich visual tapestry that brings the (non-verbalized) emotional currents elegantly to life.

While Hikari’s composition mainly consists of a mix of fluid dynamic and static shots, she also relies on documentary-like dynamism to bring Phillip’s subjective trajectory to life. This stylistic choice does not only aim to signal the reality of the societal and subjective struggles explored within the narrative, but also supports the genuine feel of the performances – creating a visual frame that amplifies the naturalness of the emotions expressed via the signifier and the body.  

Static moments, on the other hand, are utilized by Hikari to interweave some compositional beauty and evocative imagery – visuals that speak – into the unfolding of her narrative. The subtle and discrete way Hikari integrates these moments creates a visual frame that supports the expression of societal struggles as well as introduces moments of beauty within the societal field – beauty easily dismissed by subjects plagued by frustrated desires.

While the composition invites the spectator into the narrative, the performances ensure that he remains engaged from start to finish and can fully indulge in the emotional flow of Hikari’s film. The performances do not only ensure that Hikari’s film is bursting with genuine emotionality but also allows her filmto become a heartfelt celebration of the transformative potential of the encounter, of the simple fact that any exchange of signifiers inevitably sorts subjective effects (Music-note 1).

Brendan Frazer steals the show as Phillip – he is the beating hart of the narrative, the facilitating element that does not only elevate all the other performances, but allows them to come to their own full right. The only actor that does not need any facilitation by Brendan Frazer is Akira Emoto. He sketches, on his own, an incredibly touching portrait of a man who seeks reconciliation with his own life before dementia complicates his sense of self.   

Rental Family re-affirms Hikari’s talent for creating uplifting and touching filmic experiences. Thoughtfully, she leads the spectator by the hand to introduce him not merely to certain cultural particularities, but to highlight that, irrespective of the specific cultural frame, we are all subjects who long for the encounter, for the possibility to give meaning to our ego within the flow of the societal network. Highly recommended.    

Notes

General-note 1: Phillips’use of the services of a sex worker (Tamae Ando) neatly follows the logic of seeking pleasure to cover-up the aching insistence of the lack of recognition. However, the spectator easily feels that her physical assistance satisfies, however fleetingly, a deeper emotional need: the need to feel recognized as desirable by the Other.   

General-note 2: Taka’s statement concerning the stigma that surrounds mental health issues within Japanese society offers but a partial explanation as to why solutions that follow the logic of consumption are more appealing for the suffering subject.

What the renting-business offers the subject is something that serious therapy cannot offer: sympathetic and emphatic recognition. The act of renting is, moreover, not merely a curative attempt but also a performative act addressed to the gaze of the societal Other. It is, to put it differently, not only an attempt to gain recognition of the ‘therapeutic’ performer, but to invite the societal Other to grant this recognition.

General-note 3: We must, however, emphasize that the potentiality of the signifier to affect the performer is drastically heightened because he needs to perform within the societal field and because, in most cases, the performer’s target accepts the veracity of the symbolic situation.

Mia sorts subjective effects on Phillip because her acts and speech are predicated on the belief that her father truly came back.  

Music-note 1: Besides utilizing musical accompaniment to emphasize the beauty of given scenery, she also leverages the power of music thoughtfully to ensure that certain images touch the spectator and the silent effect of certain acts and signifiers on Philip as subject is emotionally felt.

In this respect, it is important to highlight that effect the music has on the spectator is function of the genuine performances of the cast. The music, in a certain sense, merely amplifies what was already visually and verbally present.