In what feels a faraway time known as the 90s, there was no simple way to meet people with the flick of a thumb in one direction or another. If you were looking to go on a date, you had to meet people. The new thriller "Rent-A-Pal" submerges us into the lonely world of its protagonist, who is just trying to make a connection with anyone and by any means necessary.
The movie takes place in 1990, where David (Brian Landis Folkins) feels completely isolated from the world around him. He lives with his mother, who is suffering from dementia. He has taken on the role of fulltime caretaker for her, which prevents him from working or having a social life outside of the house. Desperate to make a connection, David goes to a video dating service and picks up pre-recorded VHS tapes to try and meet single women.
David spots one tape and is intrigued by the label, "Rent-A-Pal." He takes it home, pops it in, and on the screen appears Andy (Wil Wheaton), who offers companionship in a scripted conversation. Andy might not be the romantic partner David is looking for - that comes later when he matches with Lisa (Amy Rutledge) - but he is happy to have someone to talk to, even on a recorded tape. From the moment the movie starts, the vibe and mood is weird, so expectedly, as the plot develops and Andy enters David's life, things get increasingly strange.
Writer-director Jon Stevenson, making his feature debut, really piles on the film's peculiarities, which is to be expected from a filmmaker trying to make a name for himself. The movie is certainly taking aim at today's generation and their expectations of instant gratification as they hope for lasting or casual relationships with the swipe of a finger, but at its core "Rent-A-Pal" is about loneliness. Anyone living through 2020 knows what it feels like to be boxed out by the world around you, so "Rent-A-Pal" had a chance to evoke some real feelings, but it throws that opportunity away by leaning into the lead's grating performance. The movie wants us to be on David's side, but it fails to make a strong enough case as to why we should be.
The back half of the film is where things begin to twist and turn, and the result is a feeling like throwing any plot devices at the wall to see what sticks. The movie aims to effectively unsettle you, but becomes increasingly off-putting and tedious - and then the entire scripts gets tossed out the window. "Rent-A-Pal" is never short on retro style, but it could have made its case for David much more efficiently.
"Rent-A-Pal" will begin in select theaters and VOD on September 11.
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