Review of Captain Fantastic (2016) by Will C — 24 Aug 2016

A number of featured critics objected to what they deemed the smugness of the film. That is what I'd like to address.

I presume that what they're referring to is the filmmakers obvious approval of the countercultural lifestyle of the family headed by the eccentric main character played by Viggo Mortensen. His children are all vastly better educated than "normal" kids attending public or even private schools; they're better conditioned physically and excel at martial arts, rock climbing, wilderness survival, music, and who knows what else. They're super kids. The obvious message is that Americans are wasting their potential and ruining their health in a variety of ways that Mortensen's clan is not. The eldest son has been accepted to the top elite ivy league schools. The youngest child can recite the Bill of Rights verbatim. This family's cultural, moral, physical, and intellectual superiority is writ large in almost every scene. The writer/director fully intends to make a statement about the typical suburban American lifestyle, namely that it's mediocre at best.

This view of American life in contrast with what the filmmaker thinks is possible is softened by the injunction the father gives to his kids not to judge others, even though quite obviously the filmmaker is doing precisely that.

So, is the film smug? That would be true if Mortensen's family displayed excessive pride or a conceited overvaluation of their worth and importance. I didn't see that. While the story clearly wants to show their superiority, I don't think it condemned the mass culture for its failings. Rather, I think it expressed a feeling and attitude of remorse for our inability to be what we could be. Perhaps our children wouldn't all become super kids, but we could all do a lot better if we didn't place so much value on consumerism, on time-wasting empty distractions like computer games, and if we simply paid more attention to our diet.

I see the film more akin to hagiography. It portrays what the filmmaker sees as a perfect model of human potential for others to attempt to copy. I thought the film was sincere. Was this family at all a realistic vision? I doubt it. But that's not the point.