Not a horror at all but a slow burn character study of one man's struggle with loneliness. Set in late 80s David has been stuck at home caring for his mother who is suffering with dementia for nearly 10 years. The need for full-time care and lack of support from outside agencies, leaves David pretty much socially isolated, but in clear need of human companionship. Attempts at video dating have met with no success, so in desperation he picks up a video entitled Rent A Pal. This features an amiable young man Andy (Will Wheaton) who engages in a slightly stilled getting to know you conversation. At first dismissive of the whole endeavour, David does over time begin to establish a rapport with Andy to full the void of human companionship. For such an outlandish concept the film is remarkably effective in exploring the impact of loneliness, depression, and dementia. Never going for the quick and easy, unsubtle approach, it draws you into the hopeless mundanity of David's day to day existence, allowing you to understand why this very artificial construct becomes so important to him. All this works thanks to wonderfully heart-rending performances of Brian Landis Folkins as the never complaining David and Will Wheaton as his virtual video friend Andy. Even with the electronic distance between the two they manage to achieve a fascinating electronic companionship, that is the essential driving force behind the emotional heart of this sad insight into the lives of the abandoned and forgotten.
Review of Rent-A-Pal
