Nothing special, but not bad either, this AirBnB horror is passable, but nothing new or innovative for the genre. Decent performances all round and a palatable plot make for a decent 90 minute horror/thriller/drama. Good to see Dave Franco behind the camera and trying his hand at directing, just hope he goes for something a little more ambitious for his next feature.
The Rental is like a shoebox of mediocre pictures at the bottom of a drawer somewhere: you've seen them all before and forgotten them already because they're is nothing remarkable about any of them.
The only surprising thing is how they got such a noteworthy cast (Alison Brie for Christ's sake!) to make such a throw away film.
I liked it. I was invested in this little story before it became a slasher. I don't need to like the characters to enjoy a movie, I'm not 5 years old. If you watch it expecting scares every fifteen minutes, you're going to end up disappointed. I would have liked to know more about the killer, though.
This is billed as a thriller/horror flick, but the vast majority of the film focuses on the dynamics of the two couples and the dysfunctions in their relationships. It's not until well over halfway into the film that things start the amp up and the actual home invasion elements don't really come into play until the very end...and then it is very abruptly over. This weird pacing is what holds back an intriguing premise acted out by a very great cast.
The Rental aka The Stupid Assholes Movie
Josh comes across is the best character, Mina is a cunt. The movie wasn’t bad but it pisses you off that it was just a set up for a sequel
good actors and good acting, but the killer has no real objective or purpose . there seems to be chaos in the plot but without an aim.
Very unlikable characters that really make this mediocre thriller into a below average one. Not recommended.
Boring, slow, long, and not scary.
Pretty much agree with @randompadley except that the last 20-30 minutes weren't much more exciting either.
The movie seems to have been written around one core idea but failed to even setup a believable "celebratory weekend get-away" to make up the runtime. Add in tons of classic facepalm horror moments and shitty characters et voilà.
I'd honestly have skipped this seeing who directed it but with the other poster variant it made it appear like there might be something cool going on (with the flipped perspective of the house and the figure in the sky). :thumbsdown:
And while I don't need a resolution to a movie necessarily the reveal that it's just a random stranger doing this only left me with more questions in how this all played out. Kinda hard to believe this setup over a weekend and I doubt the MO should just have been that he likes watching and then killing strangers. I mean he rents the place beforehand to set it all up so just how many places could he possible have "sliced up" by this method... His plan was also far from foolproof. They could have easily have made it away (as shown by the stupid chase scene in the forest)... there is also evidence on their phones, etc. so why even bother removing all the cameras :rolling_eyes:.
This has a very slow start, but keep an open mind and finish it. I really enjoyed the ending. Others here said the killer didn’t have a purpose. :asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:MAJOR SPOILER for the ending:asterisk_symbol::asterisk_symbol:
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He rents houses, sets them up to stalk, torment, and or murder, then cleans up his mess, goes and rants the next house and repeat. A nice twist.
It was 100% predictable but that fact did not detract from the creepy factor. (Of course that hits way after the drama). Stay through the credits too :blush:
While this is nowhere near being a critically acclaimed movie, I thought it was very enjoyable and better than expected. I chose it because it has Lip, who I love, and its a thriller (my fav genre), and I went in with the mindset that it was going to be a pretty forgettable, B-list movie. I was pleasantly surprised by how into it I was! The drama was juicy and I truly didn’t know where the movie was headed next. However, I wasn’t a big fan of the ending. I thought there could have been a more clever conclusion as to why the guy was doing it. Despite that, I still recommend as a solid thriller movie.
Just as another user said, the end credits were the most interesting and creative part of this film. Its concept only becomes the slightest bit interesting once the killer's identity -- a previous renter -- is revealed, which is pretty agonizing in hindsight because it doesn't happen until the end. Because of this, it really feels like the movie falls flat. While I have enjoyed movies that have a sudden, important reveal during the final minutes, there's a certain something about the reveal in this movie that almost ruined the whole thing for me, that made the whole movie feel like complete and utter wasted potential. In fact, its wasted potential got me so annoyed that I did some brief research on it, and found this quote from its writer and director, Dave Franco: "I just tapped into that idea of wondering why we trust the people we’re renting to and thinking about how there must be people who stay in these rental homes and then make copies of the keys and come back at a later date to do whatever they want." . Which, yes, I agree is very interesting, but didn't think this idea was neither explored nor executed well. Perhaps if the movie was centred on the killer, and followed his escapades killing renters in multiple houses it would have been more interesting and impactful. Even if you're an Alison Brie fan like I am, I recommend skipping this one.
I really wish the Francos would just stop
This was incredibly disappointing and if you've seen the trailer then you've arguably seen the few good moments in this surprisingly slow moving horror. The first 60 of this 90 minute film are like something from a family drama movie rather than a horror. I commend the desire to flesh out the characters beyond the typical 2D caricatures you usually get in horror movies but the tension and an impending sense of dread needed to be slowly built alongside this.
I can't fault the cast, who are great. The score is good and the general production values are high but, unfortunately, the horror part of the story was thin on the ground and what was there was woefully underwritten.
A 30 minute short film stretched into a feature length movie.
Added to List: 2020 Releases Ranked
Pretty good for what it is. Any longer and it would have dragged, but at +/- 90 minutes, a good watch if you feel like horror.
It was a typical trapped in home and being video taped. It had its moments if you don't expect much.
I sincerely hope that the whole main cast of 4 characters find a very bad ending IRL
I don’t get the point of slashers like this.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘The Rental’:
Airbnbs just got a whole lot creepier. I think I’ll opt for a Marriott. Kthanks.
Yeah, keep splitting up. Separating is always a great idea in these scenarios. That was frustrating.
Kudos for an uber-creepy killer. Every scene with him was sufficiently tense. And they totally got me with the twist. The fact that it was some random dude, and not the host, made it scarier. Solid flick.
Good premise for a horror/thriller but it took way too long for climax to happen. Character development is good as you draw an attachment to these 2 couples who rent out an exotic Air B&B for the weekend. The buildup is certainly thrilling as something is off about the host right away and the cinematography is great, but it all was just dragged out then jammed in. However the plot twist at end makes me want to give it another try.
It's funny when the plot is painfully predictable and the main character works as he have obvious motive. ;)
cant understand the bad critics. its a well played thriller with some horror elements. great cast and acting. feels real and surprises. its dave francos first time as a regisseur and he wrote the script as well. well done!
Slow burn, but I enjoyed the creepiness of it and the fact it didn’t really have an ending. A killer with no purpose is scarier for me.
It could have been better. More drama about the couples would have been more interesting. This one looks like the typical slasher movie in a rented house. The only interesting thing is the drama between the couples. That's why it's not that bad.
One of the worst movies I ever watched. A complete waste of time. 0 suspense, 0 interest in any characters' dialogue... Avoid it.
Not great. Creepy concept that joins the actual movie much after you stopped caring about the characters. Literally, the sympathetic character sticks around until last. I said not great, but not even good.
Mediocre and not at all original. You've probably seen this movie a dozen times before and those dozen other movies did it better. It had a great cast so this should have been a winner, but instead it was flat and boring and really would have been better as an episode in an anthology series.
Don’t be fooled by the presence of Dan Stevens in front of the camera and Dave Franco behind it. This is an extremely generic horror thriller that isn’t worth a rental.
Standard fare, began well, lapsed a bit in the middle, picked up again at the end. The movie is worth watching for the final 20 minutes when it starts to kick ass and the end credits are creepy as hell. Not bad from all concerned! 6.5/10
Really... don’t waist your time!
Not bad. Kind of slow. Not your typical jump scare horror movie. When you think of it it's kind of scary. xisijikong
Mumblecore meets slasher. Joe Swanberg's participation in the script draws a dividing line in the story. The first part is a plot about couples. The second is a bloodless slasher. The reflection on secrets and voyeurism is interesting. And while it doesn't pretend to change any gender rules, it should be required a little more information on this nosy Michael Myers.
Shout by randompadleyBlockedParent2020-07-24T23:52:02Z
I've watched a lot of horror, I've watched my fair share of good and bad horror. Its been a long time since a movie has genuinely angered me, the characters were just awful people and I couldn't muster any sympathy whatsoever for any of them (maybe Michelle). But if you take away the terrible characters the movie itself was pretty mediocre, nothing new or inventive and pretty snail pace until the final 20/30 minutes. The ending credits were quite cool though although it says a lot when the rolling credits was the part that stuck out the most.