Rent-A-Pal

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Videos & Photos

  • Official Trailer

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Jon Stevenson

Producer:

Annie Elizabeth Baker, Jimmy Weber, Jon Stevenson

Writer:

Jon Stevenson

Release Date:

Sep 11, 2020

Runtime:

1hr 48m

Synopsis

1990: David, 40, looks after his dementia mom. He uses a video dating service to no avail. He buys a "Rent-A-Pal" video tape and things change.

Cast

  • Wil Wheaton
  • Brian Landis Folkins
  • Kathleen Brady
  • Amy Rutledge
  • Adrian Egolf
  • Josh Staab
  • Luke Sorge
  • Olivia Hendrick

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.3
21.3K
6.0K
4.6K
RATINGS 28 FANS
3.3
  • Jan 16, 2021

    Why was the lasagna so slippery?????

    0 Likes
    meg✨
    meg✨
    Dec 10, 2020

    I really enjoyed this; it wasn't quite what I expected (this was more psychological where I expected a more literal approach), but the lead performance from Folkins is great. A very sad film more than anything, that takes its time building up to more straightforward horror…

    0 Likes
    Freyrday the 13th
    Freyrday the 13th
    Feb 14, 2021

    his mom doing the crossword as a maze and saying “they dont even make em hard anymore” was the funniest thing ive seen in weeks

    0 Likes
    kotenok
    kotenok
  •
    May 23, 2021

    There is a scene in ‘Rent-A-Pal’ where Wil Weaton’s character ‘Andy’ is doing his thing on the T.V. and the phone besides him starts ringing. He picks it up and immediately hangs up again. The phone does this a few more times in quick succession and each time Andy hangs…

    0 Likes
    Dave Taylor
    Dave Taylor
    Oct 6, 2024

    SPOOKTOBER V: DEATH’S DEVICE Another of those films or series I’ve known for a while because this happened to be the last reviewed film by an occasional reader of mine for years now, but I never got around to give it a watch until now, which was pretty fitting with the…

    0 Likes
    Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine
    Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine
    Dec 17, 2020

    I'm not sure how to rate this. The premise and acting really hit the mark. The problem is the last half hour just doesn't feel believable in relation to what came before. I really wish this had stuck to landing. Oh well.

    0 Likes
    Karl
    Karl
  •
    Feb 14, 2021

    Wil Wheaton is there just to rent, To listen if one needs to vent. If a game is wished, Then he'll play Go Fish, So consider it time that’s well-spent.

    0 Likes
    JBird
    JBird
    Oct 10, 2020

    To friendship 🥃 This saddened me to the core. A 40yr old lonely man caring for his mother with dementia. You feel for him he is a good carer, but he needs someone to care for him. Not finding a match on the dating agency he joined he picks up a VHS called rent a pal out…

    0 Likes
    cherryz
    cherryz
    Nov 1, 2021

    I found out about Rent A Pal thanks to a Facebook group about cinema where recommendations are made to know about recent releases and it caught my attention to see that the person who posted about it mentioned that it was indeed one of the works that he considered that had…

    0 Likes
    Mario Melendez
    Mario Melendez

Atom Users Reviews

4.0
0
1
0
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0

Reviews

  • TM
    Tristan Markson

Metacritic

61
metacritic
Based on 7 Critics
6.8

USER SCORE (6)

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Reviews
88
Sep 11, 2020

For all the nostalgia that comes with seeing David pop in a VHS tape, the movie’s time period allows Stevenson to focus our attention on the horror emitting from just one screen.

Metacritic review by Nick Allen
Nick Allen
RogerEbert.com
70
Sep 11, 2020

What makes the film work as well as it does, at least up to a point, are the perfectly calibrated performances. Folkins is superb as the socially maladroit Andy, making his character sympathetic in his genuine satisfaction in being a caretaker despite the personal toll it enacts. And Wheaton, whose entire performance consists of sitting in a chair and talking directly to the camera, uses his innate likeability to at first disarming and then chillingly creepy effect.

Metacritic review by Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
The Hollywood Reporter
50
Sep 10, 2020

Eventually the movie paints itself into a corner then sinks into grisly sludge. Stevenson’s technical skill can’t save him from a trite worldview.

Metacritic review by Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
The New York Times

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is Rent-A-Pal (2020)?
The movie is 1hr 48min long.
What's Rent-A-Pal (2020) about?
1990: David, 40, looks after his dementia mom. He uses a video dating service to no avail. He buys a "Rent-A-Pal" video tape and things change.
Who's the cast of Rent-A-Pal (2020)?
  • Wil Wheaton as Andy
  • Brian Landis Folkins as David
  • Kathleen Brady as Lucille
  • Amy Rutledge as Lisa
  • Adrian Egolf as Diane
  • Josh Staab as Cameraman
  • Luke Sorge as Customer
  • Olivia Hendrick as Susan
Who's the director behind Rent-A-Pal (2020)?
Jon Stevenson directed Rent-A-Pal (2020).
Who produced Rent-A-Pal (2020)?
Annie Elizabeth Baker, Jimmy Weber and Jon Stevenson produced Rent-A-Pal (2020).