Captain Fantastic (2016)

Viggo Mortensen plays this father raising a massive brood of six kids. They’re living completely off the grid, far away from modern society and anything resembling civilization... just deep in the wilderness. It’s part comedy, part drama, kicking off when their mother takes her own life, forcing the dad and the kids to finally head into the real world for the funeral.

The whole trip turns into a mess once the kids actually face reality for the first time... plus, there's the inevitable clash between the father and a grandfather who clearly hates how they were raised.

Matt Ross is handling both writing and directing here. The first trailer dropped this week, if you want a glimpse of this weird family dynamic...

Viggo Mortensen stars alongside Frank Langella. The rest of the cast includes George Mackay, Samantha Isler, Annalisa Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Ann Dowd, Erin Moriarty, Missi Pyle, Kathryn Hahn, and Steve Zahn.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3553976/

trailer

Eric Newman4 said:

Viggo Mortensen plays this father raising a massive brood of six kids. They’re living completely off the grid, far away from modern society and anything resembling civilization... just deep in the wilderness. It’s part comedy, part drama, kicking off when their mother takes her own life, forcing the dad and the kids to finally head into the real world for the funeral.

The whole trip turns into a mess once the kids actually face reality for the first time... plus, there's the inevitable clash between the father and a grandfather who clearly hates how they were raised.

Matt Ross is handling both writing and directing here. The first trailer dropped this week, if you want a glimpse of this weird family dynamic...

Viggo Mortensen stars alongside Frank Langella. The rest of the cast includes George Mackay, Samantha Isler, Annalisa Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell, Ann Dowd, Erin Moriarty, Missi Pyle, Kathryn Hahn, and Steve Zahn.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3553976/

trailer

As far as I can tell, that trailer has actually been out there for at least a month, maybe even longer...

Movie's been out for like a month now. Finally grabbed it and watched it.

Rachel Turner2 said:Movie's been out for like a month now. Finally grabbed it and watched it.

Thoughts?

It’s a decent enough movie. Viggo delivers a solid performance and there are some fun moments sprinkled in, but nothing groundbreaking. Honestly, I’m still scratching my head over the point of that ending.

It was just okay for me. It’s worth a watch, I guess, but it didn't really hit the mark. The acting and the story were fine, but I expected something more... I don't even know what.

I was absolutely floored by this movie 🕺. The plot, the dialogue, the characters—everything worked. I spent days looping the end credits song on YouTube. Honestly? Probably the best film I’ve seen all year.

My take is that extremes are never the answer. Just as modern parenting can go too far toward being neglectful, the radical approach taken here—where pancakes become a reward for a first kiss—is just as broken. It boils down to two things: a) you have to find balance in life, and b) people simply aren't putting enough effort into raising and educating their kids. That's my two cents 😬.

There’s a movie here that many parents really ought to see, though they probably won't, because they always think they know best when it comes to their kids. And honestly, that’s exactly where the film hits home.
If I had to pick my own version of an extreme lifestyle, I’d choose one where I can still grab dinner, read up on quantum physics, and celebrate Chomsky day.
I really appreciated the honesty in how the characters interact with their children—that raw sincerity between people. It drives me crazy when adults talk down to kids like they're idiots rather than treating them like actual human beings and future adults.
We tend to protect children with this paranoid intensity from anything deemed "bad" or "inappropriate"—things like death, illness, or sex—completely forgetting that they’ll eventually have to face all of it. A colleague of mine has an 8-year-old son who still blindly believes in Santa Claus, and she keeps the charade going because she thinks "a child needs to stay a child for as long as possible." I don't get where this myth comes from, this idea that childhood is some perfect era we need to stretch out indefinitely.
All in all, it's a fascinating look at what we label as socially acceptable or "normal," questioning how much of that is actually good or bad, who gets to be the judge, and the pressure to conform to the system.

I thought Viggo was great in this 😉
From every angle, 🙂

The whole upbringing thing works for the story, but their logistics are totally unrealistic. Where does the money even come from for an operation like this? How do they handle freezing winters in the middle of nowhere? Where do they get stuff like boots, or what happens if someone actually needs a dentist? You've got six kids all rocking perfect, pearly white teeth. Give me a break 🙄
And most importantly—it’s obvious his late wife was probably dying to escape that lifestyle and wanted a change. It's a shame the movie didn't dig into that a bit more...

Bryan Taylor9 said:I thought Viggo was great in this 😉
From every angle, 🙂

The whole upbringing thing works for the story, but their logistics are totally unrealistic. Where does the money even come from for an operation like this? How do they handle freezing winters in the middle of nowhere? Where do they get stuff like boots, or what happens if someone actually needs a dentist? You've got six kids all rocking perfect, pearly white teeth. Give me a break 🙄
And most importantly—it’s obvious his late wife was probably dying to escape that lifestyle and wanted a change. It's a shame the movie didn't dig into that a bit more...

That was my first thought when I saw the tent 🕺🙂
Give me a break...
As for the money, wasn't he wearing some kind of handmade craft to sell to that guy? I know you don't make much from that, but I got the feeling Leslie comes from a wealthy background, so maybe it's all just being funded by her family... I don't know, but they really could have made that clearer 🙂

They have perfect teeth because they don't eat sugary junk food 😉😁

Noah Roberts46 said:It’s a decent enough movie. Viggo delivers a solid performance and there are some fun moments sprinkled in, but nothing groundbreaking. Honestly, I’m still scratching my head over the point of that ending.

That's exactly it; I don't really grasp the point either. At first, it felt like an anti-establishment film made for a mainstream audience—sort of a Chomsky-themed cliché—but in the end, they just get co-opted.
I suppose I would have preferred if Santa Claus had joined them in the woods, giving them enough momentum for a sequel where they actually overthrow the government through guerrilla tactics. 😁

Honestly, such a fantastic movie. It’s easily one of my favorites from last year, and honestly, one of the best I've seen in quite a while.

Jonathan Perez88 said:I was absolutely floored by this movie 🕺. The plot, the dialogue, the characters—everything worked. I spent days looping the end credits song on YouTube. Honestly? Probably the best film I’ve seen all year.

My take is that extremes are never the answer. Just as modern parenting can go too far toward being neglectful, the radical approach taken here—where pancakes become a reward for a first kiss—is just as broken. It boils down to two things: a) you have to find balance in life, and b) people simply aren't putting enough effort into raising and educating their kids. That's my two cents 😬.

Sandra Harris2 said:There’s a movie here that many parents really ought to see, though they probably won't, because they always think they know best when it comes to their kids. And honestly, that’s exactly where the film hits home.
If I had to pick my own version of an extreme lifestyle, I’d choose one where I can still grab dinner, read up on quantum physics, and celebrate Chomsky day.
I really appreciated the honesty in how the characters interact with their children—that raw sincerity between people. It drives me crazy when adults talk down to kids like they're idiots rather than treating them like actual human beings and future adults.
We tend to protect children with this paranoid intensity from anything deemed "bad" or "inappropriate"—things like death, illness, or sex—completely forgetting that they’ll eventually have to face all of it. A colleague of mine has an 8-year-old son who still blindly believes in Santa Claus, and she keeps the charade going because she thinks "a child needs to stay a child for as long as possible." I don't get where this myth comes from, this idea that childhood is some perfect era we need to stretch out indefinitely.
All in all, it's a fascinating look at what we label as socially acceptable or "normal," questioning how much of that is actually good or bad, who gets to be the judge, and the pressure to conform to the system.

Kudos to everyone for writing all this out! I'm totally on the same page as you guys, so I don't really have anything else to add.

This movie honestly deserved an Academy Award for Best Picture more than most of the films that actually made the list. I'm genuinely surprised it was snubbed.

The movie is solid.

It’s definitely more original than most of those sappy Oscar baiters.

Just finished watching it yesterday. Honestly, there were way too many good things about it, so I’ll start with the negatives since they’re fewer...

The whole premise is built on this ideological fight against Western consumerist and capitalist society, where a parent tries to shield his kids from all those influences. But even that lifestyle has its downsides, which the movie shows—though maybe not as deeply as it probably should have...

On one hand, they’re portrayed as these smarter, better people building a community in tune with the wild and nature, while the average American family is shown as just stereotypically clueless. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they weren't shoving it right down your throat! Like that scene where he sends his youngest to recite a critique by heart just to shame the city kids who go to public schools, unlike his own kids who are homeschooled under this super strict wilderness training regime. The problem is, those lines clearly sound like memorized scripts... they don't come out naturally as spontaneous or rational thoughts from actual children.

Even though I lean more towards his ideology and really sympathize with Captain Fantastic, the message is presented as a two-way street—meaning neither the typical Western lifestyle nor his extreme version of isolation is "right." Still, I wish they had gone deeper in certain parts; instead, the whole thing stays kind of on the surface, a bit naive, and follows a pretty predictable path...

But overall, it was a super satisfying movie with stellar acting and some really strong points and messages. It has those typical indie-film vibes here and there, but not enough to be annoying. I actually love the concept of a family learning survival and togetherness away from civilization, celebrating Chomsky and anti-Western sentiment. And the scenes outside that bubble? They’re fun, showing those classic, messy human situations and reactions...

The only thing is, the core theme driving the story should have hit harder, but the solutions offered felt a little thin. Their mother's death is definitely the most powerful moment, and it should have highlighted the massive gap between the two ways of life. Instead, it mostly just reveals resentment and a huge pile of confused emotions on both sides—from the mother's side and from Ben and his kids.

That's when Ben finally realizes that at some point, you just have to let your kids develop within society so they can decide for themselves whether they want to be part of that world or not...

It's kind of similar to Dogtooth, where the idea of protecting children from the influence of Western civilization turns out to be both disastrous and totally impossible from the jump. Maybe everyone should get back to their roots and merge with nature, but we should probably do it gradually instead of just cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world entirely...

Amanda Robinson4 said:Just finished watching it yesterday. Honestly, there were way too many good things about it, so I’ll start with the negatives since they’re fewer...

The whole premise is built on this ideological fight against Western consumerist and capitalist society, where a parent tries to shield his kids from all those influences. But even that lifestyle has its downsides, which the movie shows—though maybe not as deeply as it probably should have...

On one hand, they’re portrayed as these smarter, better people building a community in tune with the wild and nature, while the average American family is shown as just stereotypically clueless. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they weren't shoving it right down your throat! Like that scene where he sends his youngest to recite a critique by heart just to shame the city kids who go to public schools, unlike his own kids who are homeschooled under this super strict wilderness training regime. The problem is, those lines clearly sound like memorized scripts... they don't come out naturally as spontaneous or rational thoughts from actual children.

Even though I lean more towards his ideology and really sympathize with Captain Fantastic, the message is presented as a two-way street—meaning neither the typical Western lifestyle nor his extreme version of isolation is "right." Still, I wish they had gone deeper in certain parts; instead, the whole thing stays kind of on the surface, a bit naive, and follows a pretty predictable path...

But overall, it was a super satisfying movie with stellar acting and some really strong points and messages. It has those typical indie-film vibes here and there, but not enough to be annoying. I actually love the concept of a family learning survival and togetherness away from civilization, celebrating Chomsky and anti-Western sentiment. And the scenes outside that bubble? They’re fun, showing those classic, messy human situations and reactions...

The only thing is, the core theme driving the story should have hit harder, but the solutions offered felt a little thin. Their mother's death is definitely the most powerful moment, and it should have highlighted the massive gap between the two ways of life. Instead, it mostly just reveals resentment and a huge pile of confused emotions on both sides—from the mother's side and from Ben and his kids.

That's when Ben finally realizes that at some point, you just have to let your kids develop within society so they can decide for themselves whether they want to be part of that world or not...

It's kind of similar to Dogtooth, where the idea of protecting children from the influence of Western civilization turns out to be both disastrous and totally impossible from the jump. Maybe everyone should get back to their roots and merge with nature, but we should probably do it gradually instead of just cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world entirely...

That’s a great way to wrap things up. I really have to agree with you there. It’s a solid film, all around. The core message hits home perfectly—nothing is ever truly good if it’s taken to an extreme.

I’ve always felt that the whole point of advancing civilization should have been quite simple: to make life better for everyone, both as a society and as individuals within it. It was supposed to be about easing the burden on every single person. Unfortunately, it feels like capitalism—especially the specific breed we see here in the States—tends to produce nothing but frustration and a lack of critical thinking. It creates this sort of metaphorical zoo where everyone is constantly clawing at each other just to become a "somebody." And if you don't manage to climb that ladder? You're left out in the cold, struggling on the streets under a bridge, facing sickness and hunger without a safety net.

I truly believe we need to find a way to weave our technological progress directly into the fabric of the natural world. We should be striving to build a society where everyone actually "has" what they need and, more importantly, feels genuinely content. It isn’t some impossible dream, honestly. The real hurdle is that there just isn't any collective will to make it happen. Our current system is designed to keep us compliant; people are conditioned so easily to just go along with whatever is put in front of them, even when it clearly works against their own best interests.

SPOILER ALERT

A colleague of mine actually completely shifted my perspective on this movie with her wild take on the ending. She interpreted it as Captain Fantastic committing suicide. Her logic? He realized he simply couldn't provide his kids with the kind of life he considers righteous, yet he also knew he couldn't help them integrate into "normal" society, so he eventually leaves them in the care of their grandparents. To her, everything following the moment he drops the kids off—that entire sequence where the children step off the bus, the cremation of their mother, and so on—was actually just his "afterlife experience."

I don't know. I didn't see it that way during my first viewing, but I can certainly see how that interpretation works as an option. 🤷

I honestly can’t tell if he’s actually taking his own life or if it’s just some wild fantasy, but those last 15 minutes are completely detached from reality. Like, the kids literally just teleport themselves right to him, making decisions that totally contradict all the drama they went through during the movie just to align with his little dream scenarios for them—and for his wife's funeral, too. To top it all off, everything wraps up with a song.

Jason Fowler57 said:I honestly can’t tell if he’s actually taking his own life or if it’s just some wild fantasy, but those last 15 minutes are completely detached from reality. Like, the kids literally just teleport themselves right to him, making decisions that totally contradict all the drama they went through during the movie just to align with his little dream scenarios for them—and for his wife's funeral, too. To top it all off, everything wraps up with a song.

Exactly my point. It simply fails to mesh with anything the movie established up to that moment. 🤷

On the other hand, it makes little sense that a man like him would take his own life at the first sign of a crisis... especially after leaving his kids entirely to characters whose worldview he absolutely loathes. I didn't find the final act strange at all; the kids simply wanted a different lifestyle and pushed for it once their circumstances changed. In the end, everyone reached a compromise.