Last Updated on December 21, 2021

PLOT: Two couples rent a gorgeous seaside home only to realize that it has a bit of a downside: A murderous mask-wearing voyeur. But the estate is truly stunning and maybe worth a life of two. Times are tough; are they not?

LOWDOWN: I’ll admit that I may be a tad paranoid in life. For instance, while driving, if someone matches more than one turn with me, I’ll keep a close eye and make an impromptu emergency plan because (I assume) I’m about to get murdered or robbed. It may sound crazy, but dying ain’t an option, and It would be hell to cancel my credit cards and spend a day at the DMV. Life is too short! This mini-rant brings me to THE RENTAL (WATCH IT HERE), with it’s beautifully built upon tension and the use of voyeurism. I’ve thought a lot about this exact scenario happening to me. It eerily tapped into a deep fear of mine and made me realize that therapy is likely in my future.

Two brothers, along with their girlfriends, rent a beautiful house on the ocean, do some drugs, cheat on a significant other, and realize a murderous maniac is watching them. Talk about a great and timely story and props to Joe Swanberg and Dave Franco for crafting such a simple yet effective idea. The fact that HD cameras can be so damn small and placed almost anywhere not only makes this realistic (minus the killer) but something we should all really discuss. How can you protect your privacy? Would you even know if a rich creep that rents out his mansion hasn’t completely bugged it out and isn’t watching you with one hand down his pants?

Though advertised as a slasher, this is first and foremost a slow-burn thriller. Besides a few well-placed POV shots and the occasional reminder of the cameras, this relies on us slowly watching these friends enter the point of no return without any sense of the looming danger. Charlier (Dan Stevens) fools around with his brother’s girlfriend, Mina (Sheila Vand), only to realize something we all must learn at one point in our lives; shower sex is overrated. Oh ya, and that they are being watched via a shower cam.

As far as the casting goes, it’s f*cking perfect here. Dan Steven’s Charlie is charmingly two-faced, while Shelia Vand complicates things as the modest yet aggressive Mina. Besides the sweet, trusting, and adorable Michelle (Alison Brie), everyone is somewhat selfish. Usually, in slashers, we have one asshole, while everyone else is at least a decent person up to a saint, but here we’re faced with a surprising amount of moral ambiguity.

Nobody deserves to die, per se, but I liked that this went down a darker road and gave us a more compromised set of characters. A big shoutout to the handler of the estate and (maybe) villain Taylor (Toby Huss) for stealing every scene he’s in. Toby plays sleazy and rundown so well he had me cheering for him when the film clearly wanted me to side with anyone but. How could I ever be against “The strongest man in the world?” I can’t, and so THE RENTAL has an ace up its sleeve and that ace is Toby f*cking Huss.

This is a beautiful and elegant looking film, and I got to give Dave Franco credit for a damn fine debut. Franco proves he understands the genre and is a director to keep your eye on. With his use of wide shots, stylistic applications of color, and the perfect pacing of tension, THE RENTAL feels like that of a seasoned director. The acting, the look, and execution are all here and making this film a trifecta. Just in technical terms, his first outing is tight and impressive. The man knows the craft, and that cannot be denied.

THE RENTAL is not perfect by any means, and there are a couple of gripes that I’d like to get out of the way. We have a thriller that becomes a slasher in the last twenty minutes, and I’d say it’s a twist, but the trailers sell this as a killer picking off everyone in a giant house. I get the sneaking suspicion that it wants to be a more “elevated” genre film instead of giving into its natural grimey desires. I wanted to see this embrace what it only flirted with in the end. The IFC site calls it “sophisticated,” and that maybe my most significant issue we have here. It’s a beautiful looking, and well put together film that lacks the balls to go all the way. When the time comes to bring out the masked killer, we have only a little fun with it because there isn’t nearly enough time to explore. The gore is near zero, and it’s over before it even begins.

GORE: We get barely any gore and tend only to see the aftermath of the kills. THE RENTAL is going for more of a classy approach, but leaning more into the carnage would have made the last act more visually gripping. Have some fun, guys.

BOTTOM LINE: I enjoyed THE RENTAL and will tip my hat to the talents of Dave Franco. I didn’t know he had this in him but will follow his directing career going forward. With Dan Stevens leading the charge, the actors all excelled. Alison Brie is sweet as always, while Toby Huss steals the show. This does chicken out when it comes to the intensity, and it only scratches the late third act’s slasher surface. I’m all about a masked killer but felt that the kills and the actual killer were a bit compromised for the sake of art. If you can dig THE RENTAL as more of a thriller than a slasher, you’ll be just fine. It kept me paranoid, unnerved, and may have ruined Airbnb forever, so in the end, it did its job. Thanks, Dave! Thanks.