Hacker Cinema
Noriko's Dinner Table
紀子の食卓
2005 · Film · 159 min
Part of Suicide Club Collection
Directed by Sion Sono
A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
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3 comments on Hacker News
There is also, unsurprisingly, a Japanese movie based on that exact same idea. More than one, in fact.
It plays a part in Noriko's Dinner Table.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noriko%27s_Dinner_Table
This is referenced in the plot summary: [...] As it turns out, however, Kumiko has no real family, and the people she introduced Noriko to are paid actors working for Kumiko's organisation, I.C. Corp. The organisation offers paid roleplay services to interested clients, allowing them to fulfill their fantasies of a happy family life.
Reminds me of one of the main plot lines of Noriko's Dinner Table http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468820/
The main character works for a similar company to the one mentioned in the article. Not sure if there was a precedent at the time of the film's writing. Looks like fiction has become reality.
If you find this interesting, I recommend the thriller Noriko's Dinner Table [2005]. The film's plot revolves an agency "IC Services" that rents out people to play roles---they play roles as family members in family life.