The Rental (2020)
October 12, 2022 3:06 PM - Subscribe

Two couples (Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, Jeremy Allen White) on an oceanside getaway grow suspicious that the host (Toby Huss) of their seemingly perfect rental house may be spying on them. Before long, what should have been a celebratory weekend trip turns into something far more sinister.

Directed by Dave Franco.

Written by Dave Franco & Joe Swanberg, from a story by Mike Demski.

74% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on AMC+ and Netflix. JustWatch listing.
posted by DirtyOldTown (3 comments total)
 
Considering how good the cast is, I wanted to like this a bit more than I did. It wasn't sharp enough satirically for me to forgive it for not really delivering the horror goods, though. I also think the central mythology of the unnamed Airbnb killer person wasn't impressively mysterious, it was just fucking vague.

I'm not mad about it, but it didn't impress me much.

Also, there were weird things the characters did that didn't make sense, like looking through every shoebox in the crawlspace for a modem. I mean... look for wires? Things that plug in won't be in a box.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:08 PM on October 12, 2022


I enjoyed the dynamics between all the characters until the real killer shows up. They had so many opportunities to back out of things, tell the truth, or generally behave like rational human beings, and they just kept doubling down on bad decisions that felt more real compared the usual dumb decisions made in horror movies.

I agree that the "real" horror portion in the third act was lackluster, but it was good enough for me based on the first two acts. I guess I just enjoy Bad Decision Theater.

And I had the same thought about the modem. "Let's look under the house!" Why the hell would it be there? Do they not have internet at home? Weren't they tech people?

Also: The dog lives!
posted by mrphancy at 4:39 PM on October 12, 2022


I also found this disappointing. Unidentified killer who just enjoys making killer airbnbs (sorry I had to) just didn't interest me as much as all the dynamics between the characters. Overall not a bad watch but not one I will do again.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:00 AM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]


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