61
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88RogerEbert.comNick AllenRogerEbert.comNick AllenFor all the nostalgia that comes with seeing David pop in a VHS tape, the movie’s time period allows Stevenson to focus our attention on the horror emitting from just one screen.
- 80Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpPaste MagazineAndrew CrumpWheaton is the film’s first exceptional element. The second is Stevenson’s restraint.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckWhat makes the film work as well as it does, at least up to a point, are the perfectly calibrated performances. Folkins is superb as the socially maladroit Andy, making his character sympathetic in his genuine satisfaction in being a caretaker despite the personal toll it enacts. And Wheaton, whose entire performance consists of sitting in a chair and talking directly to the camera, uses his innate likeability to at first disarming and then chillingly creepy effect.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatWil Wheaton is the true star of this film. His creepy therapist/creepy children’s TV show host take on his character was exactly what Rent-A-Pal needed.
- 58The A.V. ClubDanette ChavezThe A.V. ClubDanette ChavezRent-A-Pal goes full-tilt mayhem in its final act, shattering its carefully calibrated dread in a race to make an already belabored point: that technological advancements are to be questioned, and there is no substitute for human connection.
- 50The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyEventually the movie paints itself into a corner then sinks into grisly sludge. Stevenson’s technical skill can’t save him from a trite worldview.
- 42The PlaylistAsher LubertoThe PlaylistAsher LubertoAs the film becomes more of a conventional horror flick, it also leaves unexplored the darker realities of these contemporary fears for easier, gorier thrills.