If You Need a Good Cry & a Good Laugh, This Viggo Mortensen Family Gem Is Perfect for You

Ten years ago, Matt Ross directed Captain Fantastic, a film that won an award at the Cannes Film Festival and earned Viggo Mortensen Oscar and Golden Globe nominations – it remains one of the most moving and thought-provoking family dramas of the 21st century.

Captain Fantastic is a movie about parenting, freedom, and love, and about whether it's possible to prepare children for life while keeping them from the outside world.

What Is 'Captain Fantastic' About?

Ben and his wife are raising their six children in the forests of the American Northwest, far from civilization. They teach the children how to hunt and survive, as well as languages and science.

The kids are required to read classic literature, listening to modern music and watching television are strictly forbidden. When Ben's wife experiences a severe mental health crisis, she is hospitalized. Soon after, she takes her own life while struggling with depression.

Her parents forbid Ben from attending the funeral and threaten to take legal action to gain custody of the children. Despite these threats, Ben decides to bring the kids to the funeral. Thus, the family embarks on a journey that brings them face-to-face with the real world.

'Captain Fantastic' Is a Versatile Movie With Witty Humor and a Brilliant Performance by Viggo Mortensen

Matt Ross' movie has resonated so strongly for a simple reason: the story of children confronting reality plays out as a road movie, an educational Robinson Crusoe tale, and a left-wing anti-capitalist manifesto, all rolled into one.

In two hours, Captain Fantastic covers enough ground to fill several movies.

Ross explores issues surrounding closed societies, depicts the lives of outsiders navigating a new modern world, stages a darkly humorous funeral, and ultimately leads us to the conclusion that one cannot live in society and remain free from it.

Viggo Mortensen is not merely an ornament to this philosophical film – he is its indispensable foundation. His character, Ben, is a committed anti-globalist and anti-capitalist – a teacher in the harsh school of life.

Mortensen portrays the head of the family as both a provocative performance artist and a 21st-century Robinson Crusoe, a character who is at once mercurial and stoically wise.

The tragic nature of Ben's character forms the movie's dramatic core – in his quest to raise healthy children, both intellectually and physically, Ben's parenting style deprives them of the most essential thing: a well-rounded experience of life and the ability to coexist with others.

Captain Fantastic boldly blends the comic and the tragic, making us laugh at the "wild" children's awkwardness in the outside world while simultaneously weeping at their honest, uncompromising love for their father and for one another.

What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Captain Fantastic'?

• Captain Fantastic has 82% from critics and 85% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.

• On IMDb, the movie has a score of 7.8/10.

• On Letterboxd, Captain Fantastic scored 3.9/5.0.

Where to Watch 'Captain Fantastic'?

Captain Fantastic is available to stream on Kanopy and Hoopla.