72
Metascore
36 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeThe movie really belongs to Mortensen, who allows Ben to be exasperating, arrogant and impatient but also warm, loving and caring. He’s a tough but adoring father, a grieving widower and an angry defender of his wife’s final wishes, and Mortensen plays all these notes and more with subtlety and grace.
- 88New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickCaptain Fantastic isn’t only one of the year’s best movies, but one of the best cast and best acted, right down to the smaller roles.
- 83The Film StageThe Film StageThough the film struggles to wrap up the proceedings in an overlong final act, it thankfully stays true to its characters by not oversimplifying a complicated subject.
- 80VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeRoss doesn’t run from the resulting sentimentality the way so many other directors do; nor does he undercut it with irony or sarcasm as has become the regrettable tendency in independent cinema.
- 80New York Daily NewsStephen WhittyNew York Daily NewsStephen WhittyGorgeously photographed, and as loosey-goosey as its hero, Captain Fantastic takes some unexpected turns. Is Ben eccentric or irresponsible? Is he raising free-thinking iconoclasts — or training a new generation of Unabombers?
- 58The A.V. ClubA.A. DowdThe A.V. ClubA.A. DowdTo those outside his bubble, it can look at best like a form of child abuse, at worse like a cult: the nuclear family as survivalist militia.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinThe Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinEspecially refreshing, even radical, is its sympathy for characters who read for pleasure and value rigorous thought. Unfortunately, by the end, it’s gone as mushy and ragged as a homespun hemp blanket.
- 50The PlaylistRuss FischerThe PlaylistRuss FischerCaptain Fantastic uses bleak but gentle comedy to pinpoint the variety of ways we wrestle with grief, but the film undermines Mortensen's performance and its own thematic ambitions by presenting the character as little more than an idealized fantasy figure.
- Like the family at its centre, Captain Fantastic is an odd bird, sometimes endearing, sometimes unbelievable.