The 15 Best Movies of 2016

Image courtesy of Bleecker Street Media

9. Captain Fantastic

On paper, Captain Fantastic’s plot sounds like a comedy. That probably explains why there’s some debate going on as to whether it’ll be nominated for Best Comedy or Best Drama at the Golden Globes. Captain Fantastic follows Ben (Viggo Mortensen) who lives in the woods with his six children, teaching them about the world as he sees it. When their mother dies, the group decide to enter the real world to attend her funeral.

Family dramas are a dime a dozen, but Captain Fantastic does what Bad Moms dreams it could do: deconstruct parenting. Ben believes telling his children the truth is the only way to survive, and that includes giving the sex talk in graphic detail on a bus. The witty script illustrates that children are resilient, but there’s a happy medium between educating and escapism, and no parent can discernibly achieve both. Viggo Mortensen can do no wrong, and he’s so compelling as Ben. His love for his children is evident, and the audience turns against the standard parents who believe his children should play video games. His parenting isn’t perfect, but it comes from a place of purity and fear of the future. It’s easy to see why he’s receiving so much praise critically. Couple that with the fantastic (pun intended) child actors, and this is a boat full of amazing.

Next: Jackie