The Rental

Two couples head off to the seaside for the weekend. Their lodgings? An airbnb (the actual name is never mentioned but.....ya know...) overlooking the sea. The kind of abode that only exists in the movies. The group? Two brothers, Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Josh (Jeremy Allen White), Michelle (Alison Brie) who's married to Charlie and Mina (Sheila Vand), who's seeing Josh but also business partner to Charlie. They're a dull foursome, bland in that wholesome American way but as the weekend plays out we realise they aren't as boring as they initially seem. And it's not just us witnessing what they get up to either. Nope. Someone else has a vested interest in their shenanigans.

The whole idea of Airbnb is a strange thing isn't it. We pay money to perfect strangers to go and stay in a place we know very little about apart from what we've read in a review or two. It's the exact thing we were warned against as kids, "Stay away from strangers" but now in attempt to save a bit of cash we'll blindly walk into the unknown courtesy of a capitalist behemoth that we all know is bad for us all. In his directorial debut, Dave Franco (brother of James) uses this simple idea to create a very solid little horror movie that will frustrate as many people as it pleases.

This is a film that really takes it's time, letting us get to know the meat.....haha i mean the characters populating the story before letting rip on them. We find out what makes them tick, how they get on with each other and it's here where the film really works. The Rental becomes a story about human weaknesses and how sensible folk turn into muppets when they allow themselves to relax that bit too much. It feels more like a mumblecore take on a psychological drama than a scary movie. Snippets of chat lead us to believe we know what way the story will unravel and then Franco turns everything on it's head when we fall into a stalk and slash horror that feels like John Carpenter territory with it's sudden shocks and short sharp bursts of violence. Like Carpenter's most famous horror it doesn't feel the need to dwell on bloody suffering but because we've gotten to know everyone it still hurts. Ouch. 

The Rental will annoy some though as it's not a film that gives answers or motivations. A lot is left to the imagination and different viewers are going to have different takes on what they've just seen when they come together for the post viewing post mortem. Characters who seem like they might be ropey are played ambiguously, horror tropes we've come to expect are knocked on their arse & backstories are thankfully kept to the bare minimum. It's nothing we haven't seen before but the way it's approached helps it feel fresh. It's an assured debut from Franco and while it's not 100% successful it's clear to see he's a fan of the genre and he knows how to get the most out of a very decent cast. Stevens and Brie (Franco's wife in real life) are good value as party animals gone to seed while Jeremy Allen White (so good in TV's Shameless) and Sheila Vand play their roles in the exact fashion you expect while still managed to keep their actions surprising. 

The Rental is out to stream now. It's well worth your while especially if you don't need your hand held. Oh and there's a dog. A lovely friendly dog. Will it survive? It's post modern horror so who knows? You'll have to watch to find out.