Review of Captain Fantastic (2016) by Kyle B — 29 Jan 2017

Captain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen stars in this drama about a hippie/survivalist happily home-schooling his six exceptionally bright, free thinking children in the forests of Washington state, who all find their lives tossed into a culture shock when the family's mentally ill matriarch dies.

While some of the scenes are a bit contrived and border on ridiculousness, and at times Mortensen's character unnervingly resembles Charles Manson in both appearance and action, the film's thought-provoking themes are powerful enough to make us all look at what defines a "good" or "happy" life and what qualities make a good parent.

B+.