This feature from IFC Midnight is available for rent on most streaming platforms.
While it’s easier today to keep in contact with people or find an endless supply of entertainment using your computer and television, it hasn’t been that way for very long. Back in the 80s, home video was a new phenomenon that gave people easier access to films, but could only do so much when it came to connecting people. The new film Rent-A-Pal takes place in 1990 and uses this now-dated technology to spin a creepy tale about a lonely man trying to keep himself from cracking under the stress of isolation.
David (Brian Landis Folkin) has spent the last ten years of his life staying at home and thanklessly caring for his widowed mother Lucille (Kathleen Brady), who suffers from dementia. His mother doesn’t recognize him and needs constant attention, leaving the man lonely and yearning for companionship. The protagonist attempt to find a companion via a dating service that requires recording a video message on tape sending it around to potential matches. After initial attempts yield nothing, David notices another VHS for sale called Rent-a-Pal. This one features a man named Andy (Wil Wheaton) who converses into the camera and talks to the viewer. The protagonist initially finds it strange, but begins to form a troubling bond with the video, leading to bizarre behavior and deeper trauma.
The concept is an interesting one, with plenty potential to keep viewers guessing as to whether the tape itself is of supernatural origin or if the man watching it is simply having a psychotic breakdown. The casting of Wil Wheaton as Andy is also amusing. He isn’t a threatening physical presence. However, seeing the jovial figure slowly become more and more off-putting as the tape progresses and witnessing his reactions to David’s worsening state are interesting to see. In fact, for a little, low-budget psychological horror picture, all the cast members are good. Folkin does a solid job as the sad, desperate, insecure caregiver who forms an attachment to a pre-recorded character who will listen without judgement.
Still, despite individual moments of creepiness and despair, there are problems with the film related to pacing. One imagines that the filmmakers really wanted to depict the drudgery and repetition of the lead’s daily routine. However, the movie goes overboard in showing every aspect of the feeding, bathing, cleaning and other duties in a slow and deliberate manner. One gets a sense of these hardships very quickly. And while well performed, viewers hang on David’s reactions to events for overly extended periods of time. Alas, it becomes repetitive and slows the film from developing any significant tension. We only experience the Rent-a-Pal VHS tape at the end of the first act and it takes almost an hour for the strange relationship between David and Andy to fully develop and add unease to the proceedings.
Things do eventually become more interesting with the arrival of a potential romantic interest named Lisa (Amy Rutledge), especially after David begins to believe that Andy from the videotape is harboring jealousy towards her. These creepy bits are some of the film’s most interesting and make one wonder why there wasn’t more of it earlier. It would have been eerily amusing to see Andy deliver some poor or easily misinterpreted advice on how to navigate social interactions and witness David’s awkward attempts to deal with difficult people in the real world. Instead, the movie keeps its head down, moves slowly through its plot points and takes viewers to the expected destination.
This picture does present an interesting portrait of how, even in an earlier era, reliance on technology can inflame mental distress. Its performances also help keep one from giving up entirely on the story, but for this reviewer the main conflict takes much too long to develop and doesn’t yield enough drama. This feature is 109 minutes in length and it could have easily been trimmed by as much as 15 or 20 minutes without sacrificing any significant information. In the end, Rent-A-Pal includes some intriguing observations, but ultimately overstays its welcome.