Ben Cash, his wife Leslie, and their six children live an isolated existence on ten acres in the mountainous Washington wilderness. They are former left-winganarchist activists disillusioned by capitalism and American life, who choose to instill survivalist skills and left-wing politics and philosophy in their children.
They educate them to think critically, and train them to be physically fit, athletic, and self-reliant without dependence on modern technology. They are raised to coexist with nature, are given unique names, and celebrate Noam Chomsky's birthday instead of Christmas. The children are accustomed to reading many forms of college-level literature, and, while showing high aptitude and intelligence beyond their years, they are socially awkward as they have not been socialized with the outside world.
Ben has been raising the children on his own while Leslie is hospitalized in New Mexico for bipolar disorder, away from her family and near her wealthy elitist parents. She dies by suicide while undergoing treatment and Ben learns that her father Jack plans to hold a Christian burial despite Leslie being a philosophical Buddhist who abhorred religion. Ben tries to convince Jack to honor Leslie's wish to be cremated, to no avail, and Jack threatens to have Ben arrested if he attends the funeral. Ben initially decides not to go and prevents his children from doing so, but then changes his mind, driving his children across the country on a repurposed school bus.
The family briefly stays at the home of Ben's sister, Harper. She and her husband try to convince Ben that the children should attend school to receive a conventional education; Ben quizzes Harper's children and his children on various topics, illustrating that his children are better educated and embarrassing Harper and her husband.
Later on their road trip, some of Ben's children start to doubt him and his parenting skills, with his second eldest son and middle child Rellian accusing him of failing to treat Leslie's mental health, and eldest son Bodevan accusing him of not equipping them for the real world, showing him acceptance letters from several top Ivy League colleges to which Leslie had helped him apply.
Ben arrives at Leslie's funeral with their children and reads her will, which instructs her family to cremate her and flush her ashes down a toilet. In response, Jack has Ben forcibly removed from the church. Angered by Jack's refusal to respect Leslie's wishes, Ben follows the funeral procession to the cemetery, planning to intervene, despite a police presence and Jack's threat to have him arrested. Ben relents at his children's insistence that they cannot lose both of their parents.
Rellian runs away to live with his grandparents, who want custody of all the children. When one of Ben's older twin daughters Vespyr tries to clandestinely exfiltrate Rellian from their grandparents on Ben's orders, she falls from the roof and narrowly avoids breaking her neck. Ben, shocked and guilty, allows Jack to take his children. Although the children bond with their grandparents, they quietly decide to follow Ben and reunite with him.
The children desire to honor Leslie's final wishes, and persuade Ben to help them. Exhuming her corpse, they burn it on a funeral pyre then flush her ashes down an airport toilet. Bodevan then leaves the family to travel through Namibia, while the rest settle into a more "real world" life on a farm. The final scene shows the school-age children eating breakfast around the kitchen table with their father, waiting for the school bus to arrive.
The film was conceived by its writer and director, Matt Ross, as he began questioning the choices he and his wife were making as parents. He wondered what would happen if he were "completely present" in his children's lives while noting that modern technology had made that difficult.[12] In making the film Ross also took autobiographical moments from his own life, notably being raised in what he termed as "alternative-living communities".[12]
Captain Fantastic grossed $5.9 million in the United States and Canada and $15.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $21.3 million,[4] against a production budget of $5 million.[3]
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 229 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Captain Fantastic's thought-provoking themes—and an absorbing starring turn from Viggo Mortensen—add up to an above-average family drama with unexpected twists."[24] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 72 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25] It received a ten-minute standing ovation at Cannes.[26]
Alonso Duralde of TheWrap gave the film a positive review, saying, "The movie really belongs to Mortensen, who allows Ben to be exasperating, arrogant, and impatient but also warm, loving, and caring. He's a tough but adoring father, a grieving widower and a passionate defender of his wife's final wishes, and Mortensen plays all these notes, and more with subtlety and grace".[27] Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "Boasting half a dozen impressive youth performances alongside a leading role that takes full advantage of Mortensen's own sensitive, back-to-nature spirit, Captain Fantastic easily ranks among the most polished and relatable of this year's Sundance offerings."[28]
A negative review from The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw states, "There's a meaty whiff of phony-baloney in this fatuous and tiresome movie, replete with forced emotional crises and wrong notes, topped off with an excruciatingly unearned, sentimental ending. It's a low-cal version of Peter Weir's 1986 movie The Mosquito Coast, starring someone who is essentially a cross between Charles Manson and Captain von Trapp."[29]
Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com believes "It's the attitude of the film that's the problem" and it "could have used a lot more skepticism". While praising the cast, she writes that the film "treats the situation (and Ben) so uncritically and so sympathetically that there is a total disconnect between what is actually onscreen and what Ross thinks is onscreen".[30]
