‘The Rental’ review: Dave Franco is actually a really good director

Dave Franco’s directorial debut, “The Rental,” is about two brothers who go on vacation with their girlfriends. Huh. I wonder what inspired that. Franco, who you might know from the movies as Zac Efron’s hard-drinking party boy pal, makes a stronger impression off-camera than he generally does on-screen, here turning out a sophisticated, well-paced and …

Dave Franco’s directorial debut, “The Rental,” is about two brothers who go on vacation with their girlfriends. Huh. I wonder what inspired that.

Franco, who you might know from the movies as Zac Efron’s hard-drinking party boy pal, makes a stronger impression off-camera than he generally does on-screen, here turning out a sophisticated, well-paced and nicely shot thriller.

And his film, which he co-wrote with Joe Swanberg, also couldn’t be better timed, as Americans head off to nearby secluded vacation houses rather than hopping on international flights or lining up at theme parks this year.

“The Rental,” out digitally Friday, taps into our worst fears of what could happen during a quiet holiday with heart-thumping realism.

The two couples — Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and Mina (Sheila Vand) and Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Michelle (Alison Brie, who is married to Franco) — head off to the calm abode they found online, French bulldog in tow, to celebrate a recent work success. After a few days of boozing and hiking, damaging secrets emerge and they stumble on a disturbing fixture in the bathroom. They’re not alone.

Dan Stevens, Sheila Vand and Jeremy Allen White in a scene from “The Rental.”

Allyson Riggs/IFC Films via AP

Sheila Vand

Allyson Riggs/IFC Films via AP

Dan Stevens and Alison Brie.

Allyson Riggs/IFC Films via AP

Alison Brie in “The Rental.”

Allyson Riggs/IFC Films via AP

All four actors have a believable family connection — that familiar mix of affection and annoyance — and embody the sort of city folk for whom being handy means knowing how to use a corkscrew. Stevens, however, pops the most of the quartet. The actor has emerged as the most prolific former “Downton Abbey” cast member, because he has such a diverse arsenal of talents. This summer, he has played a flamboyant Russian pop singer in “Eurovision Song Contest” and was in previews for Martin McDonagh’s Broadway play “Hangmen” before the shutdown. Stevens should be a movie star.

And Franco should, first and foremost, be a director.

The serial killer genre, because of its ’70s origins, tends to be rooted in camp — and often summer camp — and nostalgia. Franco, 35, modernizes the old tropes and saps away the usual staid humor and flat characters that still get trotted out too much today. The psychology of the weekenders and their assailant is as scary as the blood. And the ending, a long, nearly wordless sequence that explains the killer, will be hard for viewers to shake.

Especially if they’re on a trip.

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