Captain Fantastic is about a super-dad named Ben Cash, a rugged mountain man who educates and raises his six children under the expansive skies and growing evergreens of a huge American wilderness in the Pacific Northwest, far from the toxic norms of organized society. Instead of tearing open a beer can and nuking a TV supper in the microwave, they grow their own vegetables, bathe in cold streams, eat the raw heart of a deer to prove manhood, and hunt for fish and game with a bow and arrow (and occasionally with their own hands). However, a fascinating family drama fueled by unconventional parenting takes a sharp wrong turn when Mom commits herself following a forced hospitalization, and Ben grudgingly returns to civilization to attend her funeral at the demand of his children.
Captain Fantastic is not only one of the best films of 2016 but also one of the best cast and acted, right down to the smaller roles such as Kathryn Hahn and Steve Zahn in a single scene as the kids' aunt and uncle, who are taken aback to see children who aren't glued to electronic devices, unlike their own. Captain Fantastic is replete with such well-chosen incidents, portraying both the richness of their lives before meeting "regular" people and the shock of mixing with them. The kids were also well-chosen, having some of the best actings in the game.
Mortensen steals the show by allowing Ben to be aggravating, pompous, and impatient while simultaneously being warm, loving, and compassionate. Mortensen plays a gruff but devoted father, a sad widower, and an enraged protector of his wife's final desires, and he does so with subtlety and elegance.
SCORE: 5/5
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