“The Rental,” the feature directing debut by Dave
Franco, starts out in a strikingly similar vein to
“You Should Have Left”: Affluent Californians
look online, experience real-estate porn, book
relaxing getaway.
But where the earlier film sputtered just when
we expected a good payoff for all that tension,
“The Rental” knows how to stick its landing. If
such horror films can be split into three parts —
dreamy setup, scary stuff happens, all-hell-breaks
loose ending — what makes “The Rental” a more
satisfying experience is that the ending actually IS
scary and suspenseful, even surprising.
Not that Franco’s story, written with Joe
Swanberg, breaks any ground; the surprise is
mild, rather than revelatory (“Get Out,” it is not.)
But it earns our attention because, unlike many
horror films, Franco has taken the time to make
his characters somewhat interesting, with nice
casting (especially the reliably excellent Dan
Stevens), a subplot about infidelity, and another
about racial profiling.
We begin with an attractive millennial couple,
Charlie (Stevens) and Mina (Sheila Vand),
gazing at the online profile of a cliffside house
somewhere up the coast from the Bay Area (the
film was shot in foggy southern Oregon). It’s
costly, but they decide to go for it.
Then Mina’s boyfriend, Josh, enters the room.
Turns out Charlie and Mina are business
partners, not lovers. Josh (Jeremy Allen White) is
Charlie’s much-less-successful brother. Charlie’s
married to Michelle (Alison Brie), the most
upbeat and energetic of the bunch.
And so the four set off. In the car, Mina stews
over the fact that her Middle Eastern last name