CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
A bizarre, abhorrent attack on faith, family, and America.
Should You Watch It?
The answer is no. Captain Fantastic is a quirky drama with comic touches, but Dr. Tom Snyder finds it too bizarre, annoying, and abhorrent to be entertaining or satisfying. Its central father raises seven children in the wilderness while teaching them survival skills and opposition to American capitalism and religion, especially Christianity.
The movie does show that some of the father’s training endangers his children. But otherwise, the review says, it sides with his atheist, anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, leftist fallacies and falsehoods. Strong obscenities, frank references to sex and death, nudity, and violent material make the content worse.
If you are choosing for your family, skip this one. The film’s political and religious ideas, together with its crude and explicit content, make it an especially poor choice for Christian viewers.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESBen Cash is a leftist hippie and survivalist raising his seven children alone in the wilderness. He trains them in survival skills while teaching them to reject American capitalism and religion.
After Ben learns that his wife, Leslie, has died by suicide in New Mexico following a long illness, he decides to take the children to her funeral, despite opposition from her father. The family loads into a VW bus and begins a journey that forces Ben to question his parenting.
Is It Any Good?
Two stars means the film has some distinctive ideas and comic touches but does not become satisfying entertainment. The source describes it as a quirky drama, yet finds it too bizarre and annoying to be really entertaining.
The film’s central conflict gives it some dramatic purpose: Ben must question whether his survivalist training has gone too far after his children face danger. Still, the review says the movie is weighed down by atheist and leftist fallacies, harsh obscenities, and frank references to sex and death. Its content and worldview overwhelm whatever merit its unusual premise may offer.
The Worldview
The film presents a very strong humanist, anti-American, anti-capitalist, socialist worldview. Ben teaches his children to hate American capitalism and religion, particularly Christianity, while turning them into admirers of the anti-capitalist, libertarian socialist intellectual Noam Chomsky. The review describes the movie as promoting atheist and leftist fallacies and falsehoods.
The film includes strong attacks on organized religion, belief in God, Christians, and Christian theology. Christianity is likened to a superstitious fairy tale, and a little girl calls an inscription about God on a tombstone “BS.” The review also says the movie inaccurately presents Buddhism as merely a philosophy rather than a religion, although Ben’s Christian father-in-law and his pastor seem positive despite the attacks on faith.
The movie does offer one important criticism of Ben: some of his survivalist training endangers his children. But the review says this does not balance the film’s broader support for Ben’s anti-Christian, anti-capitalist, atheist, leftist philosophy. Its treatment of morality, family, religion, and American society therefore departs sharply from a biblical view. Scripture says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong humanist, Anti-American, anti-capitalist, socialist worldview with very strong attacks (including at least one foul-mouthed attack) on “organized religion” and belief in God and one on Christians making them out to be the worst of the worst, with a veneration of one character’s Buddhist beliefs, which are overtly described as a “philosophy” and not a religion, but Christian father-in-law and his pastor seem positive despite the humanist, bigoted attacks on faith by the protagonist; 24 obscenities (including a fair amount of “f” words and little girl blasphemously says inscription about God on a tombstone is BS) and seven strong profanities; some very strong and strong violence includes teenage boy attacks male deer with knife and his bloody hand with a bloody knife in it is shown, father takes deer’s heart and gives it to the boy to take a bite and he does, father trains children in the heart of hand-to-hand combat using sticks as knives, boy hurts his hand severely while rock climbing and slams into rock face, teenage girl falls off roof onto vehicle and then onto pavement and almost kills herself, corpse is cremated by a lake, and its ashes flushed down toilet later, some video game violence is shown, and it’s said that children’s mother has slit her wrists and committed suicide, and father tells the children that mother killed herself; no depicted sex, but father explicitly describes sexual intercourse to his young daughter after she asks what it is, father later gives sex manual JOY OF SEX to young girl to show her, teenage girl briefly relates the pedophilia plot of the novel LOLITA (she says the writer makes readers both hate and pity, or even like, the mixed-up pedophile protagonist in the novel), and teenagers kiss, and boy proposes marriage right away because it’s the first girl he ever kissed; rear male and female nudity, full frontal male nudity when man walks out of his family’s bus totally naked in front of other people; alcohol use; no smoking but a reference to the crack epidemic of the 1980s; and, strong miscellaneous immorality includes father leads his seven children in a ruse to steal food from a grocery store and they get away with it, woman’s will asks family to cremate her and flush her ashes down a toilet, and they do just that, father endangers children’s lives a couple times, in laws seem to hate one another at times, lying, older teenage boy in hippie family says he’s become a Maoist, father has taught his children to mischaracterize the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court in a false and leftist way (movie conveniently forgets to mention that labor unions and not just corporations benefit from the decision), and angry boy tells father “I hate you” twice but apologizes after he does it the second time.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Ben teaches his children to reject religion, especially Christianity. What does Scripture say is the beginning of knowledge, and how does that differ from the film’s worldview?
Proverbs 1:7 · John 14:6The father’s survival training sometimes endangers his children. What responsibilities do parents have when teaching courage, independence, and practical skills?
Ephesians 6:4 · Proverbs 22:6The film presents morality and social criticism through a strongly humanist perspective. How should Christians test the ideas presented in a story?
1 Thessalonians 5:21 · Acts 17:11The story includes suicide, grief, and a family divided over a funeral. How can Christians respond to people carrying deep sorrow and mental suffering?
Psalm 34:18 · Galatians 6:2The Final Word
Captain Fantastic has an unusual premise but, according to this review, is too bizarre, annoying, abhorrent, and crude to satisfy. Its attacks on Christianity and its explicit content make it unsuitable for families and Christian viewers seeking discernment. Our answer is clear: SKIP IT. Consider these alternatives instead:
