Welcome back to Movie Recaps.

Today I will show you a comedy, drama film

from 2016, titled Captain Fantastic.

Spoilers ahead!

Watch out and take care.

In the mountainous wilderness of Washington,

Ben Cash lives with his six children: Bodevan,
Rellian, Kielyr, Vespyr, Zaja and Nai.
The children's names were made up by their
parents so they could be unique, and nobody
else in the world has them.
They have no contact with society, it's just
them coexisting with nature - their mother
used to live with them, too, but she had to
be hospitalized because of her bipolar disorder.
Ben raises his children to be self-reliant
and not to depend on technology or the American
system, which he loathes.
He teaches them how to hunt, identify plants,
purify their own water and cook what they
catch and sow.
They keep a rigorous training regime to stay
physically fit and athletic, and this includes
learning how to use weapons and defend themselves.
Ben also teaches them how to think critically,
giving them advanced texts to read and testing
them on them every day, passing onto them
his and his wife's left-wing anarchist ideals
that made them leave society behind in the
first place.
No matter how gruesome or complicated their
questions are, Ben doesn't keep anything from
his children, not even the youngest ones,
and explains concepts like death and abuse
to them without sparing any details.
When Bodevan catches his first deer on his
own, Ben puts some animal blood on his forehead
and makes him eat one of the animal's organs
as he declares that he's finally become a
man.
Later in the evening, after reading around
the fire, the family takes out their instruments
and plays some happy tunes while dancing.
The following day, Ben and Bodevan drive their
bus to town, where Bodevan has trouble interacting
with girls his age.
While Ben sells some of the stuff he crafts,
Bodevan checks their PO box.
There, he finds a bunch of letters from the
universities he's been applying to in secret,
and he's surprised to find he's been accepted
into all of them.
Ben goes to a bar to call his sister Harper,
asking for news about his wife, and Harper
can only cry while she informs him last night,
Leslie died by her own hand.
After they return to the forest, Ben spends
some moments under a waterfall, mourning the
love of his life, before returning to his
kids to give them the news, promising them
nothing will change as they all start crying
too.
Enraged by grief, Rellian takes a knife as
he curses and almost stabs his father with
it, but he stops himself before doing anything
drastic and begins stabbing the wall instead,
cursing and telling Ben he hates him.
That night, Ben looks through their old paperwork
to find Leslie's will.
The following morning, the kids are still
put through the usual training routine, but
they want to know about their mother's funeral.
Ben goes back to town to call his father-in-law
Jack, who has never approved of their lifestyle
and now threatens Ben with arresting him if
he shows up at Leslie's funeral, showing no
care for her last wish to be cremated and
not buried.
Leslie's mother Abigail picks up the phone
next, telling Ben the funeral will be in five

days in their church in New Mexico but she

doesn't think it's a good idea for him to

come either.

The kids aren't happy to hear this, but Ben

reminds them that his getting arrested could

mean losing custody of them.

After spending the entire night dreaming of

Leslie, Ben wakes up to find his kids dressed

up and ready to go rescue their mother, so

he reminds them again it's impossible and

sends them to train.

Today, they're rock climbing, during which

Rellian slips and hurts his hand.

Instead of helping him or comforting him though,

Ben guides him to withstand the pain and keep

going, reminding him there will be times he'll

have nobody to help and he needs to know how

to survive on those occasions.

Once training is over, Ben notices the kids'

mood is really low, so he decides they'll

be going to the funeral after all.

They spend long hours on the road, only parking
to sleep, or stopping by the bank to withdraw

some money.

On their second day of traveling, they're

stopped by the police, who checks Ben's license

and registration, then enters the bus when

he notices the kids aren't at school and there

is a bunch of books around.

To scare him off, Bodevan explains they're

homeschooled under the eyes of god and together

with his siblings they begin singing a Christian

song.

This is enough for the cop to leave them alone.

After many hours of traveling, they stop near

a flock of sheep, but the kids don't dare

shoot them because they're just standing there.

Since they're hungry, they go to a diner,

and the siblings get excited about possibly

trying out some foods they never had before,

like hotdogs, pancakes, and cola, which Ben

calls poison water.

Seeing as there isn't any real food on the

menu, Ben takes the kids away without ordering

and they go to a supermarket instead.

There, Ben pretends to have a heart attack

and while everyone at the market is busy checking

on him, his kids steal some food and run out

of the place without being noticed.

Only one of them stays behind to give Ben

a fake pill that he takes to pretend to feel

better so he can leave as well.

Afterward, they go to a nearby park to eat

what they stole, and Ben reveals a cake because

they'll be celebrating in advance Noam Chomsky

Day, a holiday they made up after the famous

philosopher.
Ben has brought weapons for everyone as gifts,
but Rellian isn't happy - he wishes they could

celebrate Christmas like normal people.

His father asks him to present a case and

make a good argument, but Rellian isn't in

the mood for it and just returns to the bus.

Their traveling eventually takes them to Ben's

sister's house.

Harper lives with her husband Dave and their

sons Justin and Jackson, who make fun of the

siblings for not knowing famous brands.

Things get awkward over dinner because Ben

doesn't hold back when it comes to sensitive

topics and explains everything in detail,

which Harper and Dave don't want their kids

to listen to.

They go outside and argue about it, so Ben

apologizes for not respecting the way things

are done in her home.

Then the kids come out too because they'll

be sleeping in the garden, ignoring the fact

Harper prepared the rec room for them.

The following morning, Harper and Dave confront

Ben and tell him the kids need to go to school

and learn about the real world, to which Ben

responds by calling her boys and Zaja over.

Harper's sons can't answer what the Bill of

Rights is, but Zaja can, proving the education

they're getting from him is just fine.

Shortly after, they go back to the road, and

after a bunch of hours traveling, this time

they take a break at a motorhome camping site.

There, Bodevan meets a girl his age called

Claire, who thinks he's a little weird but

enjoys talking to him anyway.

Bodevan tells him they're from Paris, that

his dad is writing a book, and his mom works
on some classified stuff for the government;
but he fails to understand many cultural references

she makes.

They still end up making out, which blows

Bodevan's mind, and when Claire's mother finds

them, he gets on his knees and asks for Claire's

hand in marriage after giving a touching speech

about how she opened his mind and his horizons.

The two women laugh, thinking he's joking,

and return to their own van.

The next day, Bodevan won't stop looking at

her through the window while they leave.

After such a long trip, they finally make

it to New Mexico, so they park the bus on

the church's parking lot and sleep there for

the night, where Ben dreams of Leslie again.

The following morning, the family puts on

the best clothes they have and enter the church

in the middle of the funeral mass, earning

bad looks from Leslie's parents, Jack and

Abigail.

When the priest reaches the part of his speech

where he names Leslie's husband and kids,

Ben takes the chance to interrupt him and

give a speech of his own.

He tells everyone that Leslie was Buddhist

and hated organized religion, so she would

be hating this farewell, and that on her will,

she asks to be cremated while her loved ones

celebrate life with song and dance, then her

ashes should be thrown down the toilet.

Jack can't stand this so he calls security

to drag Ben out, and the kids leave with him.

Once the mass is over, Jack and Abigail come

over to say hello to the kids, but Jack tells

Ben he's the worst thing that's happened to

his family and that he can't come to the funeral,

but the kids can.

Ben refuses, not wanting anyone to take the
kids from him, but he does get on the bus

with them to follow the cars in order to stop

them from burying his wife.

The kids beg him not to do that because it'll

get him arrested and they don't want to lose

him like they lost their mother, so Ben gives

in and drives away so they can camp at a park.

In the evening, while fooling around, Rellian

tells Bodevan that he thinks Ben made their

mother crazy and that he's dangerous, he also

starts crying as he calls out his brother

for thinking that their lives are good and

their father is perfect.

This gives Bodevan a lot to think about, so

he finally makes up his mind and shows Ben

all the university acceptance letters.

They aren't just any university either: Yale,

Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, MIT,

Brown - all of them very prestigious names.

Ben thinks it's impressive but he's also hurt,

and he starts ranting about the fact his son

has been lying to him and acting behind his

back all this time until Bodevan interrupts

him to tell him it was his mom that helped

him apply in the first place.

Crying, Bodevan tells him he actually doesn't

know anything about anything unless it comes

from a book, that Ben made them all freaks,

and that Leslie understood that; then leaves

before Ben can answer.

Nai comes out next and gives Ben a note from

Rellian that says he's staying with his grandparents.

Ben takes the bus with the kids and goes to

Jack's house to get Rellian back, but Rellian

is angry and yells at him that he killed his

mother, that he overheard them arguing because

his mother wanted to live somewhere else and

he didn't, and that he hated him.

After he stomps out of the room, Ben tries

going after him, but Jack stops by shooting

an arrow near his head.

He starts pointing out all the things he considers

weird or dangerous about Rellian's state:

he doesn't go to school, he was gifted a weapon

on a made-up holiday, he stole food from a

market, and he badly hurt his hand, not to

mention the bruises in his body.

Jack considers this child abuse and tells

Ben they'll soon be fighting him in court

over the custody of the children, but for

now, Rellian stays there.

Since Ben doesn't want to leave without his

son, Jack calls the police, so Ben rushes

out of the house before he gets caught.

He still doesn't give up though.

Hidden in the bushes, Ben and the children

wait for the cops to leave, then he sends

Vespyr to climb on the roofs to rescue her

brother through a window.

Before she makes it there though, one of the

roof tiles breaks and she falls down, first

on a car and then on the ground.

Vespyr is rushed to the hospital, and after

running some tests, the doctor tells Ben that

she has a concussion but thankfully no brain

damage, just a broken leg.

He points out however, that if she had hit

her spine a few millimeters lower, she could've

died or gotten paralysis.

While Vespyr recovers, the family stays at

Jack's house, and Ben watches how his kids

actually have a good time with their grandfather.

Abigail takes the opportunity to give him

some letters Leslie wrote before Ben asked
her parents to get her treatment: they tell
her mother that she doesn't need to pick her

up anymore, because she and Ben had created

the perfect place to live in, that her children

would be philosopher-kings, and that all this

made her very happy so she wants to get better

there with them.

Realizing he's made a mistake, Ben tells the

children that from now on, they'll live with

their grandparents.

The kids protest, but Ben sticks to his decision,

explaining that he would only ruin their lives.

After asking Jack to take good care of them

and shaking his hand, Ben leaves on the bus,

crying.

When he stops at a market for some food, he

decides to also buy an electric razor and

shave his beard to start this new phase in

his life.

The following night, while he's camping, he's

found by his children, who are surprised by

the lack of beard.

Rellian tells him he doesn't actually hate

him, he just wishes he had helped their mother,

and Ben agrees before apologizing.

After quoting Chomsky, they finally convince

their father to rescue their mother, so the

family makes their way to the cemetery on

their bus, where Bodevan shaves his head to

match his dad when it comes to marking a new

phase in their lives.

At the cemetery, they dig out their mother's

casket and, after refilling the grave so nobody

can tell is empty, they take Leslie to the

beach, where after a touching speech, they

cremate her while singing her favorite song,

Sweet Child of Mine.

Sometime later, they go to the airport to

throw her ashes in the toilet as she wanted.

Then they say their goodbyes to Bodevan, who

is flying abroad to see the world.

From then on, Ben and his kids start living

in a little house in town.

He still teaches them how to coexist with

nature, but he also allows them to go to school,

finding a perfect middle point between his

ideologies and their well-being.