Directed by Matt Ross Reviewed by Paul Sorrell 

Whatever else Captain Fantastic may be, it’s a film about the clash of ideologies and lifestyles in the 21st century, and a stimulating one at that, as the animated discussion I had afterwards with fellow theatre-goers demonstrated. Whether it entirely works in cinematic terms is also a matter for debate.

The first half of the film is very lively and introduces us to a most unusual family — father Ben (played by Viggo Mortensen) and his six children live in a remote forest in the Pacific Northwest, where they pursue a spartan but high-thinking lifestyle. Determined that they won’t be exposed to the decadent, consumerist values of urban America, Ben subjects his brood to a home-schooling regime that includes martial arts and mountain climbing as well as quantum mechanics and highbrow novels such as Middlemarch and The Brothers Karamazov. They are like the von Trapp family on steroids.

Despite Ben’s commitment to his children’s education, his attitudes can verge on the ludicrous (in one scene, following a food raid on a supermarket, the family celebrate Noam Chomsky’s birthday) and some of the children begin to resent his uncompromising anti-capitalist zeal. While oldest son Bodevan has flourished intellectually under his father’s tutelage, he conceals the bundle of acceptance letters he has received from Ivy League universities. Shielded from any involvement with the opposite sex, his fumbling reactions to the romantic attentions of a girl in a trailer park where the family are camping, make delightfully painful comedy.

The second half of the film is a road movie, dominated by the family’s mission to recover the body of their deceased and much-loved mother, Leslie, and give her the Buddhist-style cremation she stipulated in her will. To do this they must venture into the heartland of the Beast — the Big City — and rescue her from the clutches of her wealthy, conventional Catholic parents.

Things go predictably wrong, and various encounters and adventures are had along the way. Although there are plenty of laughs, the issues at stake are too serious for the film to be labelled as a comedy. In some ways, Captain Fantastic is a parable of America’s besetting culture wars, albeit taken to extremes. Whether or not the ending supplies a satisfactory resolution of the issues canvassed in the film is up to the audience to decide. Recommended, although with reservations.

Published in Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 210 November 2016: 33