'The Rental' Ending Explained - Who Is the Airbnb Killer?

Summary

• The Rental showcases the horrors of privacy invasion in a vacation rental, with a masked killer stalking unsuspecting guests.
• The killer's unknown identity adds to the film's suspense, highlighting the dangers of trust and technology in modern society.
• An open-ended finale leaves room for a potential sequel, with director Dave Franco hinting at exploring the villain's mythology globally.

Dave Franco's directorial debut, The Rental, follows two couples looking to get away for a quick weekend break, but get more than they bargained for when they use an AirBnB-like site to book a plush house on the Pacific Northwest coast. This indie thriller from IFC Films stars Dan Stevens and Alison Brie as Charlie and Michelle, a married couple going on vacation with Charlie's business partner, Mina (Sheila Vand), and Charlie's brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White), who also happens to be Mina's boyfriend. What is meant to be three days of relaxation quickly descends into a nerve-wracking stay at a stranger's home. Over the course of 24 hours, infidelity is committed, secrets are accidentally disclosed, and, unbeknownst to the group, a masked killer is stalking them.

As early as the film's opening act, The Rental sows the seeds that something unorthodox is afoot, even if the specific indicators are, in fact. red herrings. The four friends arrive at their coastal rental, only to be confronted by the property's owner, Taylor (Toby Huss). His reaction to Mina hints at racist behavior, and even after he leaves them, the echo of his ominous presence lingers. We also see Charlie and Mina hook up, despite both their respective partners being under the same roof. The Rental builds to a shocking — and open-ended — finale which might leave you curious to unpack what actually happens.

Dan Stevens and Jeremy Allen White Rent the Airbnb From Hell

The final act of The Rental kicks off with Charlie, Michelle, Mina, and Josh's vacation rapidly souring after Michelle tells the group she's asked the rental home property manager, Taylor, to come over to fix the hot tub so she can use it. This coincides with Josh realizing that his and Mina's dog, Reggie, is missing, leading to panic over Taylor possibly throwing the group out for violating the "no pets" rental rule. Theorizing that Taylor might have somehow taken Reggie, a paranoid Josh prepares for a confrontation as Charlie, Mina, and Michelle try to reason with him about how ridiculous his theory sounds. All of this only works to raise the tension within the group. What adds to the dread-inducing atmosphere is Mina's discovery of hidden cameras in the shower. She tells Charlie that they likely captured them having sex in the shower, but they don't tell Josh or Michelle about the cameras.

Taylor arrives, fixes the hot tub, and is very nearly out of the door when Mina asks him to come look at the showers. After the charged introduction the day prior surrounding suspicions of racism, Mina takes Taylor into one of the bathrooms to show him the secret camera in the shower head. Believing him to have been the one to install them, Mina confronts Taylor, but he seems genuinely confused by the accusation. He denies any knowledge of the cameras, leading to a verbal altercation between the two. Upon hearing the commotion, Josh rushes in and beats up Taylor to the point that he's nearly dead.

Who Lives and Who Dies in 'The Rental'?

At this point, all hell breaks loose. Charlie and Mina reveal to Michelle and Josh that the house is bugged, but don't disclose their infidelity. Worries rise even more when they realize that the cameras will have also captured Josh assaulting Taylor — a double whammy of potentially life-shattering secrets among the group. As they discuss the situation on the deck, the masked killer (who has been recording the group for the past 24 hours) enters the house and kills Taylor. Yep, he really did have no idea about the cameras. Upon returning to Taylor's lifeless body, the group freaks out and hashes out their options. Determined not to let Josh take the fall for murder, Charlie resolves to dispose of Taylor's body, and Mina and Josh agree to help. Appalled, Michelle wants to leave and go to the police but goes into the bedroom first to lie down and process.

Charlie, Mina, and Josh throw Taylor's body over the cliffs at the edge of the rental property. Meanwhile, Michelle discovers footage of Charlie and Mina's shower hook-up being broadcast on the living room TV (courtesy of the killer). She is so upset that she packs her bags and leaves. Charlie, Mina, and Josh go to search for Michelle. Charlie catches up with her as she is driving away. Michelle confronts Charlie about the cheating before driving down the path where the killer has laid a trap and kills her. As Charlie searches for Michelle, the killer then murders Charlie. The killer then uses Charlie's phone to send Josh the footage of his brother having sex with his girlfriend. Josh tries to take out the group's tormentor, but ultimately loses the confrontation and is killed.

Who Is The Killer In 'The Rental'?

With her boyfriend and friends now dead, Mina is forced to run for her life with the killer hot on her heels. Being pursued through the house and eventually the woods on the rental property, Mina seemingly gets away. Just when it looks like Mina might have earned herself a happy ending, she runs through the foggy forest and drops out of sight, having accidentally run off the edge of a cliff at the property's edge. Mina, the last surviving member of the group, seemingly does not outlive the movie's runtime, meaning all of The Rental's four main characters die before the credits roll.

As dawn breaks, the final moments of The Rental show the killer removing all evidence of his presence at the house. We watch as they remove more secret cameras and recorders from potted plants, light fixtures, and those pesky shower heads. He takes off his mask and takes a moment to bask in the aftermath of his handiwork, before petting the unharmed, resurfaced Reggie. The killer's face is never shown to us, suggesting the even scarier revelation that he did this out of no personal feelings towards his victims. He repeats the process of renting and bugging another rental property in hopes of killing once more.

What Does the End of 'The Rental' Mean?

The Rental taps into some very tangible fears about what it means to rent a stranger's home for a casual getaway, rather than go to a hotel. The unnerving possibilities of stepping into another person's private space after you've paid to stay are endless. As director Dave Franco shared in his interview with Collider, he, as co-writer, wanted to explore what one of those unnerving possibilities might look like. He stated, "I think about how the country is as divided as it’s ever been, and no one trusts each other. Yet, we trust staying in the home of a stranger simply because of a few positive reviews online."

As one of the film's stars, Jeremy Allen White, told LRM; "If I had to stay in a place, I guess it would be a hotel, historically. Maybe for some reasons, maybe, there’s some underlying fears and I always felt safer in a hotel." The advent of allowing strangers to stay in your home, or vice versa, holds endless possibilities, both positive and negative, and Franco chose to feature The Rental's covertly installed surveillance equipment as a device to instill terror in the characters. Even outside the context of Airbnbs, the risk of the devices in our own homes being hacked to listen in or record us is a very real concern today, says Franco.

"I can’t help but constantly think about whether or not people are watching us through our computer cameras, and listening to our phone calls, and even when I’m on the phone with my family or close friends, in the back of my mind I’m always thinking, 'Is someone else listening in on this?'"

What Is "Airbnb Horror"?

Home invasion horror movies are scary, as it's something that could (and unfortunately does) happen to people every day. In recent years, with the popularity of home rental services like Airbnb, filmmakers have been flipping the home invasion story on its head. "Airbnb horror" sees the victims often invading the killer's homes, in a manner of speaking, walking into a trap they have no idea is waiting for them. Before Barbarian explored the literal depths of the Airbnb horror setting, The Rental did it — but it wasn't the first. The ideas explored in modern Airbnb horror even predate the service itself, with elements present as far back as Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 slasher Psycho.

One could argue that, despite their infidelity, recreational substance abuse, and hot tempers, the characters in The Rental did nothing bad enough to deserve their fates, so what is the lesson to be learned from the film? The ultimate point is that our current age of convenience has us putting our trust in the kindness of strangers every day and in a variety of ways. Using technology is a hazard. Trying to go on vacation and perhaps looking for a cheaper or cozier alternative to a chain hotel is a hazard. Hell, whether you decide to leave your home or stay cooped up is a hazard because, no matter what, you can be accessed by anyone who wants to interact with you. The boundaries between private and public life have eroded. The Rental taps into the fears of how your sacred right to privacy can be snatched from you at any second.

'The Rental' Keeps the Killer's Identity a Secret

Having a serial killer hunt you down is bad enough, but the true horror of The Rental is its lack of closure. The Rental chooses not to reveal the killer's identity or motives for their actions. This, as Franco told Collider, is a conscious decision that speaks to the movie's larger themes around privacy and the exploration into the terrifying side of home rentals.

We want to keep the identity of the killer unknown. It was in the original script. Without giving away too much, there were early drafts of the script where we did have the villain monologuing about why they were doing what they were doing. It just felt preachy and cheesy. We decided to strip that away and felt like there was something much creepier about the ambiguity of it all. I feel like that's all I can really say without giving away too much more.

Basically, The Rental is here to remind you to always be on guard. You never know who might be watching (or listening) to you.

Will the Killer in 'The Rental' Continue to Kill?

As the film's finale details, the killer of The Rental will continue to terrorize unsuspecting rental guests with the same level of efficiency as he did with Charlie, Michelle, Mina, and Josh. The movie wraps up with teases of the killer's next victims, but what are the plans for future stories surrounding this character? Over some of the end credits, we're shown the hidden camera footage that the killer covertly obtains of a new group in a new rental. Exercising, cooking, watching TV, using the restroom, and sleeping. As the credits wrap up, we see the masked killer rush out of a closet to kill the first unsuspecting victim as they sleep.

Should a sequel to The Rental be made, it's likely the focus will be on this killer finding a new group of ill-fated holidaymakers to terrorize. When Collider spoke with Franco about this end credits scene and whether it hints at a sequel, the first-time director elaborated.

"I have a pretty strong idea for what I would do with the sequel if I was lucky enough to get the opportunity. Without giving too much away, I would want to explore the mythology of the villain a bit more, and also set the story outside of the U.S. because there are Airbnbs and home shares all over the world."

How Could a Sequel to 'The Rental' Work?

Despite Franco keeping his cards close to his chest, some minor speculation could shed some light on further The Rental installments. A deep dive into the killer himself could easily prove interesting enough to fill a 90-minute runtime, be it as a sequel or even a prequel, à la Ti West's Pearl. Alternatively, should the director choose to maintain the mystique of his fascinating John Doe, a pseudo-sequel could allow for a story in which detectives work to link the various rental murders to a guest who happened to rent each property immediately before each massacre (albeit under different pseudonyms, we suspect).

Regardless, it's clear that Dave Franco has his sights set on distant lands and exotic locations, and although a world tour could add to a film's budget immensely, it helps that the idea is perfectly suited for minimal locations and cast. Could The Rental end up being The White Lotus of indie feature films; swapping out its cast and country each time, to allow for endless similar stories? Or perhaps, the fact that The Rental was sadly underappreciated upon release, due to it coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, means that this film is destined to achieve standalone cult status at best? Either way, holidaymakers beware. You never know what you might get into when you rent out someone else's home for a little R&R.

The Rental is free to stream on Tubi in the U.S.

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