HIDDEN ON STREAMING: 'Captain Fantastic'

With a title like that, who wouldn’t want to watch this film? Captain Fantastic truly is a fantastic, unique, and endearing story that you absolutely should take advantage of watching if you have a Netflix account, having arrived to the streaming platform this past February! It stars Viggo Mortensen and George MacKay… and who doesn’t love Viggo Mortensen and George MacKay?!

This film tells the story of an immensely devoted father (Mortensen) living an entirely untraditional and absurdly archaic life set in the forests of the Pacific Northwest with his six children, until he eventually tries to assimilate them back into society. His parenting methods include rigorous physical and intellectual education… sounds nice, right? However, something arises in the storyline that forces him and his kids to leave their paradise of isolation, threatening to defile the sacred perspective of life he has worked so passionately towards shaping for his kids. And you thought your parents used to be intolerable with the no-electronics policy!

It’s undoubtedly a whimsical and loving tale of what it means to be a family. It also prompts a conversation around parenting, because who is to say what really is the best way to raise children? Living in the woods, learning fundamental survival tactics, and partaking in daily bootcamps for family bonding? Or sitting around a dinner table enamored by our phones, only to later be absorbed by our television screens, TikTok, or video games? Pick your poison, I suppose. Personally, I might have to choose Viggo just for the sake of choosing Viggo.

The 2016 film is directed and written by Matt Ross, more so known for his acting roles in shows like the HBO series “Silicon Valley” or in films such as The Aviator and American Psycho. And as I mentioned previously, the film stars Viggo Mortensen, which ultimately garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The rest of the ensemble is also star-studded with a lot of up-and-coming actors, one being George MacKay whom we all fell in love with in his subsequent lead role in 1917. Other familiar faces include Kathryn Hahn from "WandaVision", Steve Zahn from "The White Lotus", Nicholas Hamilton from It, Samantha Isler from Molly’s Game, and Annalise Basso from Slender Man. The whole cast is just so lovable it hurts.

Basically this movie will give you a newfound appreciation for nature and the power of family. It’s a touching tale that imitates life against the status quo, and works to convey a humanizing and vast set of emotions as we follow this family along on their journey.