Brendan Fraser – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

PRESSURE – Review by T.J. Callahan

May 27, 2026May 28, 2026 T. J. Callahan Andrew Scott, Anthony Maras, Brendan Fraser, Chris Messina, d day, Kerry Coon, Pressure, WW II

Pressure is the untold true story of D-Day or how a weather forecast changed the world. It’s 72 hours until the planned invasion of the beaches of Normandy, France is set to begin. The Allied forces are under Pressure to carry out the mission before their element of surprise is lost. But they didn’t know whether the weather would cooperate. Captain James Stagg, a meteorologist recommended by Winston Churchill, is brought in to advise General Eisenhower and immediately butts heads with Ike’s current forecaster Colonel Irving Krick.

Interviews

Hikari on Loneliness, Being Japanese and RENTAL FAMILY – Nadine Whitney interviews (Exclusive!)

November 17, 2025November 18, 2025 Nadine Whitney Brendan Fraser, Hikari, Rental Family, Searchlight Pictures, twiw, week in women

Hikari’s tender film Rental Family takes Phillip (Brendan Fraser) an out of work actor living in Japan through the phenomenon of role playing as a real-life character in the lives of Japanese people who require a figure to act as family or friend. At the heart of the film is the epidemic of loneliness and Japan’s difficulties in dealing with mental health and social difference. Hikari, herself, experienced isolation and loneliness when she participated in an exchange program in America. Nadine Whitney speaks with Hikari about reaching out to people to create chosen families.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK November 21, 2025: RENTAL FAMILY

November 16, 2025November 17, 2025 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Brendan Fraser, Cate Marquis, Hikari, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, nell minow, Rental Family, sandie angulo chen, Searchlight Pictures, sherin nicole, twiw, week in women

The power of human connection is the underlying theme of Japanese writer/director Hikari’s sweetly poignant dramedy Rental Family. Starring Brendan Fraser as a struggling, middle-aged American actor who’s become isolated while hustling for work in Tokyo and ends up taking an unusual (but based in fact!) job to help make ends meet, the film is a timely reminder that we’re all more likely to thrive when we feel seen, heard, and valued by our fellow humans.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Hikari’s RENTAL FAMILY in Theaters via Searchlight – Brandy McDonnell reports

November 13, 2025November 18, 2025 Brandy McDonnell Brendan Fraser, Hikari, Rental Family, Searchlight Pictures, twiw, week in women

Award-winning director Hikari’s Rental Family, starring Oscar winner Brendan Fraser as an American actor in Tokyo who suffers a colossal case of impostor syndrome when he becomes a professional surrogate, opens theatrcally on November 21 via Searchlight Pictures. The film has already scored high ratings at festivals — incuding TIFF, where it premiered — and is garnering much awards buzz. With Rental Family, Hikari, who wrote, directed and produced the film, adds another highly acclaimed title to her steadily growing filmography

Reviews

RENTAL FAMILY – Review by Sherin Nicole

November 10, 2025November 16, 2025 Sherin Nicole Brendan Fraser, Hikari, HIKARI | Rental Family | Searchlight Pictures |, Rental Family, Searchlight Pictures, twiw, week in women

In each vignette, director Hikari and her co-writer, Stephen Blahut, focus on the heart of humanity and who we are by exploring the loneliness that draws us together—seeking connection. In my favorite set of scenes, when Philip (Brendan Fraser) looks out at the people in other apartments across from his, it feels like he’s seeing a mini-multiverse, and he’s imagining how he might fit into each of those worlds. It’s cleverly communicative filmmaking, a symbolic way of alleviating isolation. All of those “boxes” contain different lives, and through the Rental Family service, many lives are tied together.

Festivals Reviews

RENTAL FAMILY (Middleburg FF 2025) – Review by Leslie Combemale

October 24, 2025November 7, 2025 Leslie Combemale Akira Emoto, Brendan Fraser, Hikari, Middleburg FF 2025, Rental Family, Stephen Blahut

In Japan, rental family services are a thing. First offered in the early 90s, these businesses provide stand-ins to play friends, family, and even adversaries in social and private situations. This includes everything from professional mourners at funerals to boyfriends or girlfriends in the presence of nagging parents and whole family units for 30 and 40-somethings who live alone, and a wide range of other scenarios. Hikari, the Japanese co-writer and director of Rental Family, explains these companies make sense in a society where stats show 40% of the adult population struggle with depression, yet mental illness is stigmatized.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Nancy Savoca’s DOGFIGHT releases on Criterion Collection – Brandy McDonnell reports

April 17, 2024April 16, 2024 Brandy McDonnell bob dylan, Brendan Fraser, criterion collection, dog fight, Joan Baez, lili taylor, Nancy Savoca, river phoenix, the week in women, twiw

Nancy Savoca’s 1991 coming-of-age drama Dogfight, starring Lili Taylor and the late River Phoenix (1970-1993), will be released on April 30 through The Criterion Collection. Written by Bob Comfort (1940-2010), the film is set in 1963 and stars Phoenix as Eddie, a hotheaded young Marine on his way to fight in the war in Vietnam. On leave for 24 hours in San Francisco before shipping out, he and three of his buddies plan on attending a “dogfight,” a cruelly misogynistic party where Marines compete to bring the ugliest date, unbeknownst to the girls.

Reviews

THE WHALE – Review by Martha K Baker

December 19, 2022December 21, 2022 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) Brendan Fraser, darren aronofsky, hong Chau, Sadie Sink, the whale

The Whale is not what you think. Yes, The Whale is the tale of a morbidly obese man, but it is so much more. Significantly, The Whale is about words and writing, teaching and fathering, eating and essaying. The film is a tight and poignant homage to friendship and love with words ebbing like waves on the shore.

Reviews

THE WHALE – Review by Susan Granger

December 12, 2022December 16, 2022 Susan Granger Brendan Fraser, darren aronofsky, hong Chau, the whale, TIFF 2022, toronto international film festival

Brendan Fraser delivers a remarkable performance in the title role of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, adapted from his play by Samuel D. Hunter. Before we even glimpse his gigantic, 600-pound frame, we hear his gentle voice, teaching an English literature class on-line. Encased in a latex suit with digital prosthetics, designed by Adrien Morot, Fraser’s portrayal is inevitably minimalist, a choice that exudes pathos, even when he’s gobbling greasy pizza or devouring a bucket of fried chicken.

Festivals Reviews

THE WHALE (TIFF 2022) – Review by Ulkar Alakbarova

September 13, 2022September 22, 2022 Ulkar Alakbarova Brendan Fraser, darren aronofsky, hong Chau, the whale, TIFF 2022, toronto international film festival

The Whale is exceptional, brilliant, and mind-blowing. The concept itself is gut-wrenching. Darren Aronofsky does what he knows best – capturing the portrait of a broken human being and presenting it in the most devastating way. For that, he just needed to find the right actor and, Brendan Fraser was the chosen one. Don’t be surprised when he begins to grab one award after another because no one can match his level of acting this year – that’s what we all must be certain of.

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