American actor Phillip Vanderploeg lives in
Tokyo and constantly searches for work following his success in a toothpaste commercial seven years earlier. He is stuck taking minor roles until he is hired by Rental Family, a company that provides actors to play stand-in family members and friends for strangers, to act as a living funeral attendant. Initially reluctant due to its seemingly absurd premise, Phillip, desperate for funds, takes more jobs after the company's owner, Shinji, insists that they need a "
token white guy". Phillip's next job is to act as the fiancé of Yoshie, who wants to perform a
traditional wedding for her parents. Phillip nearly bails, reluctant to lie to Yoshie's family, but his co-worker Aiko convinces him to commit. Phillip later discovers that Yoshie is a
closeted lesbian who is already married and is about to secretly depart to
Canada with her wife. They profusely thank him for his help, giving him a different perspective on the job. Among his various clients, Phillip takes on two long-term jobs. In one, he acts as the estranged father of a young
half-Japanese girl named Mia, whose single mother, Hitomi, believes that presenting Phillip as Mia's real father will help Mia enroll in a private school. In the other role, Phillip plays a journalist profiling Kikuo Hasegawa, a retired actor with
dementia, whose daughter, Masami, hopes will make Kikuo feel remembered. Phillip begins to form strong bonds with Kikuo and Mia, who initially resents her "father" for abandoning her but eventually warms up to him. Phillip's agent informs him that he has landed a highly-coveted role, but he declines for Mia's sake. Hitomi warns Phillip against getting too close to Mia and is offended when he criticizes her for mapping out Mia's whole life without knowing her true character. At Masami's insistence and seeing Kikuo being clumsy, Phillip reluctantly declines Kikuo's request to take him to his abandoned childhood home in
Amakusa. He also learns that some of Aiko's jobs involve her pretending to be a mistress apologizing to the wives of unfaithful husbands, often resulting in her being physically assaulted. Phillip is reluctant to lose the connections he has made, but Shinji asserts that parting ways with clients is a brutal but inevitable part of the job. Following the successful school interview, Phillip is forced to tell Mia that he must return to the
United States. His time with her inspires him to take Kikuo to Amakusa. Kikuo finds a
time capsule containing pictures of himself with his first wife, who died of an illness shortly after he left her behind to pursue his acting career in Tokyo; he breaks down upon seeing the photos and tearfully thanks Phillip for bringing him. Shinji calls Phillip and berates him for "kidnapping" Kikuo, but Phillip accuses him of using Rental Family to soullessly fill empty holes rather than make genuine connections. Kikuo collapses from exhaustion and is rushed to the hospital by Phillip, who is arrested and detained for Kikuo's abduction. Mia discovers Phillip's true identity when her friend recognizes him on television. She is initially upset with her mother for lying to her, but soon forgives her. During another session where Aiko acts as a man's mistress, she breaks character, informs the man's wife of the truth, and makes an oral resignation to Shinji. At home, a perplexed Shinji dismisses his "wife" and teenage "son," revealing them to be rented actors filling his empty holes. Aiko and her co-worker Kota later pretend to be lawyers interviewing Kikuo in an attempt to exonerate Phillip. Shinji also arrives, posing as a police detective. They and Kikuo convince Masami not to press charges against Phillip, and Phillip reveals to Aiko that his soft spot to Kikuo is due to the regret of not attending his father's funeral. Some time later, Kikuo dies in his sleep. Aiko, Shinji, Kota, and Phillip attend his funeral, where Phillip puts the photos beside him. Phillip visits Mia, who was accepted into the school, and reintroduces himself to her with his real name. The two continue to spend time together as friends. Phillip and Aiko continue working at Rental Family, while Shinji discontinues the "apology services" that led to Aiko's abuse. Phillip returns to the
Shinto shrine he once prayed at with Kikuo; having previously declined Kikuo's invitation to see what he was praying to, he decides to look inside, where he sees his reflection in a
mirror, and smiles. == Cast ==