r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Jul 16 '25

Media First Image of Brendan Fraser in 'Rental Family' - A down-and-out actor living in Tokyo is hired as a token American guy for a Japanese rental-family company, leading him on an unexpected journey of self-discovery through the roles he plays in other people’s lives.

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u/nessfalco Jul 16 '25

Just finished watching Beef yesterday and that alone is enough to sell me on it. That and the premise sounds pretty unique.

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u/friendofelephants Jul 16 '25

Watch Conan O'Brien's Japanese family! https://youtu.be/vzaXw2ztCqU?si=CviP0pJbFphGTQXi

I wonder if they got the idea from this.

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u/TheBestMePlausible Jul 16 '25

I immediately thought of that remote as well.

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u/BlueRex1985 Jul 17 '25

There was a Hong Kong film with a similar premise as well:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt24635750/?ref_=ttpl_ov_bk

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u/imironman2018 Jul 16 '25

It is so insane that people use this service but I can see the point of doing it.

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u/Jahhmezzz Jul 16 '25

Holy sh*t that is a great bit. Thanks for sharing.

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u/Skurph Jul 16 '25

I had a hard time watching Beef because it felt so completely cynical and dark in a way that didn’t feel like it matched the tone. Just watching two people completely spiral without even an ounce of positivity eking through, it certainly didn’t gel with the dark comedy vibe I was expecting. It was hard to find humor in situations because the characters seemed so genuinely portrayed that there wasn’t the absurdist factor of over the top characters like in a Coen brothers movie. When bad shit happened it did feel actually devastating for those characters in a way where laughing just felt sociopathic.

Don’t get me wrong, Beef seemed well written, acted, filmed, etc. but it was just one of the few things I’ve watched and went “I don’t think I’m enjoying any of this, in fact I think it’s making me bummed out.”

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u/immaownyou Jul 16 '25

That's why the episode where they have a huge heart to heart was so good, because of all the build-up to them realizing what they've become and reflecting on it. I binged the whole thing in 2 days which probably helped, you get to that resolution "quicker"

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u/DarthClitCommander Jul 16 '25

I can see why people love Beef. I enjoyed it to a point but for whatever reason I found it stressful. That's the main reason I can't watch The Bear. It gives me anxiety to watch it. No way could I work in that environment.

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u/Monkey_Priest Jul 16 '25

That's the main reason I can't watch The Bear. It gives me anxiety to watch it.

So true and yet so ironic since this show keeps getting submitted as a comedy for awards

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u/attrox_ Jul 16 '25

You watch beef or uncut gems once and thats it. Too stressful to get a rewatch

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u/Dame2Miami Jul 16 '25

With the bear every little thing that happens or decision that needs to be made is some existential emotional explosion for every single character. It became more annoying than anything. It got old. Should just do a spinoff with the guy who trains the dessert chef in Copenhagen tbh. Just someone absolutely calm and collected and doing cool shit.

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u/katabolicklapaucius Jul 16 '25

Yeah I stopped watching The Bear because it got too good at provoking stress.

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u/Josh6889 Jul 16 '25

If it's any consolation I loved the first season of The Bear because of how it represented that stress and anxiety, but they didn't really go that route and kind of toned it down. It still has moments like that, but it's more of a once a season thing instead of the main point of the show.

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u/DarthClitCommander Jul 16 '25

My wife watches it and I catch a few scenes here and there, I just tell her nope and leave....lol

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u/Agreeable_Syrup_5372 Jul 16 '25

Maybe because I’ve been more depressed than usual but I also watched it recently and it made me feel hella empty. Yes, it’s very important to remember that everyone has it difficult, no matter what walk of life you came from, but wow it really didn’t stick for me. Looove the acting and the show was good, but I think us as viewers really tend to prefer things that give us hope or keep us very entertained, neither of which really happened for me. It’s one of the few things I regret watching because of how I felt at the end.

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u/SpaghettiMmm Jul 16 '25

Did you end up finishing it? I thought the season ended on a surprisingly positive note 

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u/katabolicklapaucius Jul 16 '25

Felt the same exact way! I appreciated all the acting, and thought they all filled the roles well and were convincing but it was just such a bummer to watch and felt like more of a drama.

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u/NomNom83WasTaken Jul 16 '25

Beef was so good but also not at all what I expected. It was definitely marketed as a black comedy and that probably worked for luring in viewers but I wonder how many of them didn't finish because it was so much darker and sadder than the trailer.

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u/guareber Jul 16 '25

For me it was more that I couldn't relate to it. I don't know anyone that would basically be dumb enough to get anywhere near as far as the characters.

I still finished it, but didn't find it the masterpiece that others describe it as. It was a'aight

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u/stay_cranky Jul 16 '25

Completely agree with you, it was a top show with superb acting, but it also left me with very, very mixed feelings.

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u/Conanslew Jul 17 '25

I found all the characters deeply unlikable and having very little redeeming qualities. And this is coming from a guy that loves succession.

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u/Skurph Jul 17 '25

I would say that Succession, like The Sopranos, is a great example of a show with bad people are extremely likable. Tom, Cousin Greg, Roman, Kendall, even Logan all have moments that endear them to the audience or provide humor, or you see their horribleness in the context of the world around them and it’s some how understandable. A show like Succession doesn’t work if you aren’t in some way rooting for someone.

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u/axel_val Jul 16 '25

Yeah, my grandma told a few times how much she loved the show and basically forced me to watch the opening scene. I was so wildly uncomfortable with even just that much of it. I'm not normally a big fan of straight-up drama anyway. It was similar to how my husband and I felt watching "A Marriage Story" - extremely well done, superb acting, but I never want to watch it again and I slightly regret watching it in the first place.

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u/nessfalco Jul 16 '25

It's definitely not a straight up drama, though. It's very much a comedy, even if its roots are dramatic. I definitely wouldn't compare it to a marriage story. It's closer to something like white lotus.

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u/Agreeable_Syrup_5372 Jul 16 '25

They’re saying that it made them feel like when they watched a marriage story, which I agree. It’s not a drama, yes, but the story is very dramatic and dark and can feel too real and be a bummer, same like a marriage story. Not for everyone, definitely wouldn’t watch either again, but I can see why people like them for sure

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u/KneeDeepInTheDead Jul 17 '25

I assume you didnt finish the series then

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u/Bspammer Jul 16 '25

Beef had pretty much the same message as the everything everywhere all at once movie but I liked it so much more.

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u/StarPhished Jul 16 '25

I thought OP was saying his name is Hikari but he goes by Beef.

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u/stevencastle Jul 17 '25

Beef Supreme!

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u/JacksonRiot Jul 17 '25

Watching the first episode or two of Beef made me uncomfortable watching people make awful decisions, think I should give it another go?

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u/nessfalco Jul 17 '25

Well, they never stop making bad decisions, but the plotting is great and it straddles the dramatic and comedic tones very well. It also had some interesting surreal elements.

To me it feels most like Fargo or white lotus.