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Captain Fantastic

Play trailer 2:31 Poster for Captain Fantastic R 2016 1h 59m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
82% Tomatometer 226 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen), his wife Leslie and their six children live deep in the wilderness of Washington state. Isolated from society, Ben and Leslie devote their existence to raising their kids -- educating them to think critically, training them to be physically fit and athletic, guiding them in the wild without technology and demonstrating the beauty of co-existing with nature. When Leslie dies suddenly, Ben must take his sheltered offspring into the outside world for the first time.

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Captain Fantastic

Captain Fantastic

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Critics Reviews

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Karen Han CutPrintFilm 12/08/2017
5/10
While the spirit of the movie is admirable, the constant tirades by the Cash family against typical society grow repetitive and lose their impact as a result, even as a device to show the difficulties in processing grief. Go to Full Review
Tara Brady Irish Times 12/28/2016
4/5
Fantastic, indeed. Go to Full Review
Danny Leigh Financial Times 12/28/2016
4/5
There are many tonal plates being spun here; the lack of a deafening crash is impressive. It comes down, you suspect, to the film's embrace of its own contradictions. Go to Full Review
JD Duran InSession Film 08/19/2024
A
Captain Fantastic thrives on comedy that knows when to peek its head and when to let drama and emotion carry the audience. Alex Somers score provocatively amplifies each of those elements... Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand 09/08/2023
... a road movie, a family drama, a tale of loss, and a loving portrait of an alternative family that is prepared to face everything but the modern world. Go to Full Review
Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies 08/19/2022
4.5/5
Matt Ross’s story of this off-the-grid family clashing with the outside world naturally has its funny moments. But it’s also a film filled with genuine feeling. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Chris S @Janomi 15h Captain Fantastic is a thoughtful family drama that asks difficult questions without pretending to have simple answers. Matt Ross explores parenting, education, grief, and modern society through a story that recognizes the strengths and shortcomings of both unconventional and traditional ways of life. The result is a film that's just as interested in provoking discussion as it is in telling an emotional story. Viggo Mortensen delivers one of the best performances of his career, making Ben Cash both inspiring and frustrating in equal measure. The young cast is equally impressive, creating a believable family dynamic that gives the film much of its warmth, humor, and emotional weight. Some aspects of the family's lifestyle and the children's extraordinary abilities stretch credibility, making parts of the story feel more like a philosophical exercise than a realistic drama. Even so, the thoughtful screenplay and satisfying emotional journey make Captain Fantastic a rewarding watch. See more Brayan G @RT99747242 1d Absolutely atrocious waste of time waste of energy waste of everything. There was no plot. There was very weak storyline after being an hour into it. I wanted to see if anything changed nothing changed. Then I caught myself waiting for the ending to be good and the ending was absolute trash when the grandfather clearly didn’t want him to keep the kids and then the kids just snuck into the bus and then the grandfather did nothing about it Confucius. See more Lincoln L @Linkolnbio2 3d The condescending and elitist protagonist is really hard to push it through more than half of the movie and at the end the old man who was so strongly against letting the kids stay with him and burying his daughter just let everything go in the third act and now everything is okay all is well when it ends well See more prawnda S @RT72497680 Jun 21 i gave the movie a 2.5/5, but every time rotten tomatoes says "something went wrong" and deletes my review i just make it lower and lower. this website is a laughing stock. See more Kody R @RT08837804 May 31 No wonder people think homeschoolers are weird… this gives a totally unrealistic depiction of what homeschooling is like. They make these kids seem socially inept and wild. There are some good things in the movie. But the reality is, you keep rooting for the protagonist to have this moment where you realize what a great father he is, but then you keep seeing him hurt his kids and put them in danger. You find yourself agreeing more with the "villain" in the story because the protagonist becomes more and more unrelatable as the movie progresses. See more Sheighlay L. @slasella Apr 22 Not great. A Disney-like version of a family living off grid and their interactions with society. Not much depth. A great movie about living off grid is Leave No Trace. It's excellent. See more Read all reviews
Captain Fantastic

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen), his wife Leslie and their six children live deep in the wilderness of Washington state. Isolated from society, Ben and Leslie devote their existence to raising their kids -- educating them to think critically, training them to be physically fit and athletic, guiding them in the wild without technology and demonstrating the beauty of co-existing with nature. When Leslie dies suddenly, Ben must take his sheltered offspring into the outside world for the first time.
Director
Matt Ross
Producer
Lynette Howell Taylor, Jamie Patricof, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson
Screenwriter
Matt Ross
Distributor
Bleecker Street Media
Production Co
Electric City Entertainment
Rating
R (Language|Brief Graphic Nudity)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 8, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 11, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.9M
Runtime
1h 59m