Movie Review: THE RENTAL (2020) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Actor Dave Franco's writing/directing debut, The Rental (2020), is a modest little thriller that takes its time to get going. A bunch of millennial characters are introduced, all of them believable if not exactly likable, and then they are all thrust into a seemingly generic plot (a weekend retreat in a posh rented house way out in the woods turns into a nightmare). It all sounds like nothing special.

But as the film moves along, admittedly a tad too slowly for its own good, the relationships between the characters become more complicated, and, before you know it, the movie turns into a competent, compact thriller, which arguably has something to say about the self-involvement, paranoia, and moral ambiguity of the millennial generation.

Though Franco isn't yet an assured enough craftsman to make the suspense and shocks work as well as they should, he is skilled enough to make the climax effective and the ending quite creepy.

The Rental isn't a classic. But it is a good debut thriller that offers plenty of entertainment, a memorable performance by Alison Brie, and even a little food for thought. Recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer