Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a drama, horror,
mystery film from 2020, titled The Rental. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care.
An amazing view of a coastline can be seen, then a house overseeing the water. Mina and
Charlie are looking at the listing for that house and see that it's available for that weekend.
Even though it's super expensive, they think they deserve to have a vacation there.
Josh pops into the office and kisses Mina. Charlie jokes with him a little, then they tell him about
the celebration vacation they are planning. When Mina leaves, Josh congratulates Charlie
over the big deal happening at his job. The two of them leave. That night, Charlie is in bed,
while his wife Michelle tells him that she's happy that his brother Josh is doing better.
She thinks Mina is a positive influence on him, but Charlie thinks that she's too good for him.
Meanwhile, the two of them are in bed joking around and kissing.
That weekend, Charlie and Michelle pick them up from their house to go to the rental.
Josh brings his dog Reggie to Charlie's displeasure, but he still pets him. Later, they
talk about the fact that the owner of the rental denied Mina's request and accepted Charlie's.
Josh thinks the owner is a racist, but his brother wants to give him the benefit of the
doubt for some reason. Mina keeps out of the conversation. They drive to the coastline and
when they get close to the house, Charlie tells Josh to hide Reggie so the owner doesn't see him.
They arrive and get out of the car. When the owner doesn't show up immediately, they let themselves
in. Charlie calls him and they realize that he's right behind them. He's a bit mad that he waited
for them for an hour. Mina is surprised that he owns a house like that, so he tells them that it's
his brother's house and he just takes care of it. Charlie introduces everyone to the owner and when
he gets to Mina, the man asks her how she got in their family. She's pissed because she thinks he's
a racist and can't believe they'll be giving him so much money to stay in the house, but Josh calms
her down. They walk inside as the owner is giving Charlie and Michelle a tour of the place. He shows
them the balcony and the hot tub, then tells them how beautiful the stars look from there at night.
Michelle comments that she should've brought her telescope and he tells her that he'll bring one
for them. Before he leaves he tells them where to find the rest of the information they might need
and that he's just up the road if they need him. Mina confronts him about her application,
but he doesn't really respond to her. Charlie and Michelle are putting away the groceries,
when the man drives by and spies on them. He drives away fast, scaring the two. Josh notices
that Mina's still angry about what happened and starts joking with his brother to calm her down.
Later, Michelle is getting unpacked, when she finds some dirt on the bed covers.
Charlie checks the password for the wifi. And Mina goes through the bathroom cabinet. She finds a
photo of the man in the drawer and flips it over. Josh is outside playing with Reggie. He throws the
dog's ball underneath the crawlspace and goes over to fetch it. The door is open so he goes
inside and finds it, but sees another door under there. He's checking it out, when Mina jumps and
scares him. They think it's creepy that there's a hidden door with an electronic lock and password.
Out of jest, Josh tries to enter 666 in and open the door. They laugh and leave.
The four of them are taking a walk on the beach. Mina and Charlie are upfront with Josh and
Michelle following. Josh looks at them having fun and tells Michelle that he's afraid that she will
leave him. She tells him that she only sees his brother as a work partner and that he shouldn't
be worried. He thinks that she doesn't need him to feel inspired. Michelle reassures him that what
she needs from him is love and support. Suddenly, Mina joins them and asks them to turn back.
The two couples walk to the house at sunset. When they walk in the house they find the telescope.
Everyone is excited for that, except for Mina. She doesn't like the fact that he can just come
inside whenever he wants. No one else wants to talk about it. Later, they're finishing with
dinner and Michelle is showing them pictures of the waterfall they'll go see tomorrow.
Mina asks Michelle if she has the surprise they were planning together and she brings a little
baggie over to the table. Charlie can't believe that Michelle got them molly for the weekend.
Everyone wants to get high that night, part from Michelle. She's had a long week at work and she
wants to rest. She tells them to leave some of the drug so they can all do it again tomorrow.
The three of them and Reggie dance to super loud music, then the two brothers play fight.
Michelle is sleeping, but there seems to be something sinister going on. The rest are on
the balcony looking at the stairs and talking. Charlie makes fun of Josh and he goes inside to
get another drink. Mina stands up to stargaze, but turns the telescope toward the houses.
Suddenly, she tells Charlie that someone is looking right back at her and crouches down.
As soon as he peeps through the telescope, she laughs and tells him she was joking. He
continues the same joke and scares her a little. They continue to talk and have a moment, when
Mina starts feeling a little bit uncomfortable and walks inside the house to check on Josh. She finds
him passed out drunk on the couch. When she goes back outside Charlie is uncovering the hot tub.
Mina tells him about Josh, but they still decide to get in the tub. Charlie walks inside to get
his suit. Michelle is sound asleep. He waits for Mina in the hot tub and she brings him a
drink as she comes inside. They trade places so Mina can sit next to the water jets in the tub.
All of a sudden he tells her that she's brilliant and great. She says that she feels the same
way about him, happy that they have a great partnership. They cheer and he sits next to her.
He starts kissing her, but Reggie barks and cries and interrupts them. Mina changes her
mind and gets out of the tub. Someone is watching them from the distance. Mina walks inside the
house and goes to take a shower, freaking out about what happened. She's showering and hears
the door. Charlie appears in the bathroom and gets in the shower with her. They kiss.
Charlie wakes up alone in bed the next day. He joins the others in the dinning room and Michelle
greets him. She tells him to hurry so they can go on their hike. Josh tells Mina that it's time to
go, but she says that she won't go. He tells her that she's the one that wanted to have a vacation
so they could spend more time together. She still doesn't want to go on the hike and he suggests the
two of them stay back. Mina doesn't want to spoil the hike for Michelle so she tells him to go,
because it's apparent that Charlie doesn't want to go on it either. Charlie apologizes to Michelle.
She doesn't like the fact that he's not coming, but her and Josh still go on the hike. Before
they leave Josh tells Mina that Reggie is tied up out back and that she should check up on him.
She's left alone in the house with Charlie and they awkwardly start to talk about what happened
between the two of them the previous night. Mina thinks that they shouldn't continue the
affair and he agrees. She tells him that she really loves his brother. Meanwhile,
Josh and Michelle are on the hike and he's telling her the story of how the two of them met.
He says that her and Charlie have the best story. Michelle tells him that it's complicated,
considering that Charlie had a girlfriend at the time. Josh jokes that the same thing happened
before, but Michelle doesn't appreciate the joke. She didn't know that and she feels terrible. They
stop for a moment and he tries to comfort her. Someone is spying on them while they're there.
Back at the house, Mina is tiding up the place, covering the hot tub and taking the telescope in.
Charlie is sleeping in the living room. She sarcastically tells him to keep sleeping and
that she'll finish cleaning up, so he lies back down on the couch. Mina goes to take a shower
and when she's done with it, she sees something in the shower head. She calls for Charlie and
shows him that there is a camera in it, telling him that she will call the cops. He freaks out
and runs over to check the other shower where they made love, only to find another camera there too.
They both freak out and he says that they can't call the cops because Michelle and Josh will find
out about everything. Mina doesn't want the man to get away with it. He thinks that they should
pretend that it never happened and she says that they should threaten him to give them the footage.
Charlie's of the opinion that if they do that, he will surely show Michelle and Josh the footage.
Mina is angry, but says that they should make up some kind of lie so they can leave early.
Charlie disagrees and convinces her to pretend that the whole thing never happened.
Josh and Michelle come back from the hike. She's angry at Charlie and walks right past him.
Josh kisses Mina and tells her that he wants to take a shower, but she finds a way to convince
him not to take one. Charlie goes after Michelle and asks her what's wrong. She asks him about
his previous girlfriends and he tells her the truth, but doesn't understand why she's asking
him that. They argue, but don't really settle the argument. Later, Michelle walks in on the three
of them watching a documentary about sea turtles and she's disappointed. She turns off the TV and
tells them that they won't end their vacation like that. She wants to do drugs and party. The
rest don't feel like it and they tell her that they're not going to participate. Charlie asks
her if she wouldn't want a slower night playing board games. She's mad at them, but still decides
to go through with her plan and get high. Michelle does some molly and leaves Charlie in the kitchen.
Later that day, Josh is making dinner and calls for Reggie. When the dog doesn't show up, he asks
Mina and Charlie where he is. He storms outside, with Mina following him, saying that she's sorry
because she forgot about the dog. They pass by Michelle and don't tell her what has happened.
Josh finds Reggie's leash, but there is no sign of the dog even when they all call after him.
He's upset and they all go searching for Reggie. Michelle figures out what happened,
but continues to get the hot tub ready. The three of them look for him in the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, Michelle is having fun by herself when they come back to get their phones.
She tells Charlie that she called the man to fix the hot tub because it's not working.
He gets upset that the man will be coming to the house. Michelle doesn't understand the problem and
he tells her that Mina doesn't like him. She says it's fine so that Michelle doesn't get suspicious.
Josh comes inside wondering if the man took Reggie and saying that he will confront him about it.
Charlie doesn't like that idea, but he will still go ahead with it. A bit later, the man arrives and
Josh confronts him instantly. He tells him that he'd been drinking all day and that he hasn't been
to the house. Josh asks him bluntly if he took Reggie, but the man tries to figure out why they
have a dog there in the first place. Josh asks him again and he says that he didn't take him.
Michelle interrupts the conversation and sends the man to fix the hot tub. Charlie joins her out,
so she's not out there alone with him. The man is repairing the tub and Michelle makes fun of him.
He fixes it in no time and tells them to enjoy their final night before they leave. Charlie
stays with Michelle at the hot tub. The man is walking out to his car when he happens upon Mina
searching for Reggie. He tells her that he's a dog lover himself and that he hopes they find him.
Mina asks him back inside to show him the camera in the shower, but he thinks that it's about the
toilet. She tells him that if he releases the footage from the shower they will go right to
the cops, but he doesn't understand what she's talking about. Mina lights up the shower head
and shows him the camera, but he doesn't know what it is and thinks that they are the ones actually
pulling a scam on him. He tells her to call the police because he had nothing to do with the
camera and takes his phone out to call them. She struggles with him for the phone and Josh sees it
happening from outside. He runs into the bathroom and tackles the man, beating him senseless.
Mina can't pull him away. Michelle and Charlie hear that something is going on inside and run in.
Charlie pulls Josh away from the man before he kills him. Josh runs out and all of them go
after him. Michelle asks what happened as Mina and Charlie argue. Mina tells her that he was filming
them and that even though they kept it secret from the two of them, she needed to confront him. Josh
heard them fighting and misunderstood, so he came in and started plummeting the guy. Simultaneously,
someone is watching them on a security camera. The same person goes into the bathroom and kills the
man. The four of them are arguing about what they should do. Michelle seems to be the only one who
thinks that they should call an ambulance and the police. Josh is trying to convince them that he
didn't do anything wrong. Charlie goes to check on Taylor and Michelle goes to find her phone.
He comes in and tells her to wait because the man isn't breathing. Josh freaks out and doesn't
understand how he can die from the beating. Mina asks what they should do and Michelle thinks they
should call the police. Charlie doesn't think that's their best option, since his brother
had already been to prison once. He thinks they should stage the scene to look like an accident,
as if he got drunk and fell of a cliff after he cleaned out the place. Michelle doesn't want to
hear it. But they continue to plan it out and see what could be done. Mina already seems on board,
trying to figure out how they would find the footage. She thinks the receiver to the wifi
camera must be somewhere in the house. Michelle doesn't want to have anything to do with it,
so she storms out of the room, realizing the three of them have already agreed. They move the body
and clean up the place. Mina packs her things and Charlie puts the man's tools back in his truck.
Before they leave to dispose of the body , Charlie goes to see Michelle. He tells her that she didn't
do anything and she shouldn't feel guilty. She says that by not calling the police she becomes
an accomplice to murder like him and Mina. The three of them get the man's body down the stairs
and carry him out to the cliff. They throw him over, but he falls on a rock and doesn't drop in
the water. Charlie finds a rock and decides to try to push him over with it. He fails. Him and Josh
find a bigger rock and just end up smashing his head. Josh decides to climb down to the man and
push him over. Mina and Charlie don't think that he should do it because it's too dangerous, but he
proceeds regardless. When he comes close to the body, he slips and falls on top of it. He tells
the others that he's ok and pushes the body off of the cliff. Josh gets back up and they head back to
the house. Simultaneously, Michelle hears a shower come on inside the house and goes to check on it.
She checks each shower one by one, though none of them is on. She keeps hearing the sound and
follows it around the house. Michelle finally finds the place where the sound is coming from.
There's a recording playing on a TV showing Mina and Charlie making love in the shower. As Charlie,
Josh and Mina are coming back to the house, a man appears behind them, but they don't see him.
Suddenly, Michelle drives off and Charlie stops her. She tells him that she saw the footage.
He asks where she found the footage instead of apologizing and she drives away from him.
Charlie comes back to the group and tells them that they need to find the footage first and
think about how they'll leave the place second. As Michelle is driving, her tire pops and she
hits into a tree. She finds what caused her tire to pop, freaks out and goes back to the car,
locking herself in and texting Charlie. Suddenly, a man shows up and breaks her car window.
Meanwhile, the others are searching the house for the footage. Charlie gets Michelle's message and
goes after her. He finds the car without her inside and calls her phone. The ringtone is
heard from behind some bushes and when he goes toward it, he stumbles upon Michelle's body.
All of a sudden, the man knocks him out and kills him. In the meantime, Mina and Josh go under the
crawlspace and open the hidden door. Even though the place looked suspicious from the outside,
they don't find anything inside the room. When they realize they won't find anything there they
decide to go back to the house. Josh lags behind and gets an audio message with Charlie's and
Mina's conversation about their secret. When he gets to her inside the house he asks her about it,
but gets a message with the video as well. When he sees it, he freaks out and wants to go after
Charlie. The doors slam downstairs and he thinks it's him, so he follows. Mina stays behind and he
looks for him around the house. Josh opens a door and the man hits him over the head.
Mina hears the commotion and climbs down, but when she sees the man she runs away from him. Before he
goes after her, he kills Josh. Mina sends him in a false direction and escapes the house.
The man finds her quickly and runs after her through the woods. She doesn't know where she's
going through the heavy fog and eventually falls over the cliff. The man makes sure she's dead,
then goes back to the house and starts cleaning up after himself. He takes the wires from the road,
he places the hammer back in the toolbox and he takes out every camera and every listening device
he has set up in the house. He looks at himself in the mirror and takes off his mask. He's still
in the house when Reggie finally comes back. He tries to pet him, but the dog backs away.
Later, the man is seen looking over a rental apartment. The woman is showing him around
the place and gives him the keys before she leaves. He makes another set of them
and prepares the apartment in the same way as he did the house, placing cameras everywhere.
The man sits on the sofa with his mask on, thinking about his next victims.