The Rental

Greetings from Lithuania.

"The Rental" (2020) is a nice little drama thriller flick. It is by any means a horror movie - do not be fooled. It plays more like a soup drama to be honest. I liked performances in this movie, especially by Dan Stevens and Sheila Vand. Set up was not original, but I bought it - i was into. But its the third act that kinda felt off for me. I liked this movie way more before the third act - I was involved into these characters story and then it just kinda did not deliver it for me at the end. There is a great idea somewhere done here, unfortunately it was not delivered in this movie fully.

Way better than the ratings. It keeps the intrigue for the first part and the rest has a good rhythm. Pretty decent directing by Franco. I don't see it lower than at least a 6. It is one of the lowest ratings compared to the quality of the film I have seen in my whole life.

The premise is interesting and the cinematography is good if understated. The story is a variation of others we've seen before. I'm sure that may detract for some but I don't mind twists on an existing idea. But the characters, ugh! I usually don't need to like the characters to enjoy a movie, but when a movie is so character-centric, it can detract, and in this case it did for me. Also, the ending implies something that seems implausible. I will have to Google to see if I can find any rationale for it.

Dave Franco doesn't bring anything new to the horror genre with his feature film directorial debut (which he also wrote) but he does provide an entertaining hour and a half (give or take) in this film about two couples who have booked into an AirBnB type property, only to discover a number of hidden cameras around the building.

Acting is decent enough and another good film for Dan Stevens' ever growing resume. Take this film as intended (a fun thriller - popcorn movie) and you will be entertained enough. Go in looking for the deep and meaningful and you'll hate it.

Ignore the reviews stating it is "pointless" - they clearly expected too much.

There is suspense and some mystery, but the ending doesn't answer any questions.