Captain Fantastic

Having already won raves at Sundance and secured a slot in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, Captain Fantastic will arrive this summer with a stellar pedigree. But movies have a funny way of playing a little differently in America’s neighborhood cineplexes than in huge auditoriums in France...

The beginning of writer, director Matt Ross’ ‘Captain Fantastic’ feels like both a naturalistic utopia and a cult of dangerous ideas. Bodevan (George McKay), the eldest of Ben Cash’s (Viggo Mortensen) six children, hides in the woods in camouflage as he waits to attack a deer. After the slaughter, Ben smears the animal’s blood across his son’s face and offers him the heart consume. This is the Cash family’s version of a Bar Mitzvah, Bodevan’s rite of passage into manhood.