George Pimentel/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Dave Franco’s directorial debut The Rental is available on demand this weekend, and at drive-in movie theaters. The thriller is about a group of friends who rent a house for a weekend when things go terribly wrong, which was actually inspired by Franco’s own paranoia about the concept of home sharing.
“You know, thinking 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, you know, five star reviews online,” he tells ABC audio, adding that lots of articles about homeowners with hidden cameras in their place came out during filming.
Since working on The Rental, Franco admits his paranoia has only gotten more extreme. However, it hasn’t stopped him from renting.
“I stayed in an Air BnB while filming this movie. But since filming… my levels of paranoia have definitely reached their peak,” he confesses. “Now when I stay in a rental home, I’m not thinking I wonder if there are cameras here. I’m more thinking I know there are cameras here. And it’s just about whether or not I find them.”
He adds, “I have not found one yet but you will find me standing on chairs and shining my cell phone flashlight around in the nooks and crannies.”
As for how Franco would prefer moviegoers to watch The Rental? However they want.
“There’s charms in watching it at home and kind of feeling that creepiness within your own home. And then there’s the obvious charms of just going to a drive in. And just like… experiencing something with a group of other people, which is not something that we get to do a lot these days,” he explains.
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