Captain Fantastic (2016)

//Summary - Level-C2//

Captain Fantastic (2016) by Matt Ross explores a family's reintegration into society after a decade of isolation. Following Leslie's death, Ben and his six children face clashes with her wealthy parents, societal norms, and their unconventional upbringing. Through challenges, reconciliation, and honouring Leslie's wishes, they strike a balance between their ideals and adapting to the modern world.

1)
Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Matt Ross. The story centres on a family forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in isolation for a decade.

2)
PLOT:
Ben Cash, his wife Leslie, and their six children live isolated on ten acres in the mountainous Washington wilderness.

Disillusioned by capitalism and American life, they are former left-wing anarchist activists who choose to instil survivalist skills and left-wing politics and philosophy in their children.

3)
They educate them to think critically and train them to be physically fit, athletic, and self-reliant without dependence on modern technology.

They are raised to coexist with nature, are given unique names, and celebrate Noam Chomsky's birthday instead of Christmas.

The children are accustomed to reading many forms of college-level literature. While they show high aptitude and intelligence beyond their years, they are socially awkward because they have not been socialized with the outside world.

4)
Ben has been raising the children on his own while Leslie is hospitalized in New Mexico for bipolar disorder, away from her family and near her wealthy elitist parents.

She dies by suicide while undergoing treatment, and Ben learns that her father, Jack Bertrang, plans to hold a Christian burial despite Leslie being a philosophical Buddhist who abhorred religion.

5)
Ben tries to persuade Jack to honour Leslie's wish to be cremated, to no avail, and Jack forbids Ben from attending the funeral, threatening to have him arrested if he comes.

Ben initially decides not to go and prevents his children from doing so, but then changes his mind, driving his children across the country on a repurposed school bus.

6)
The family briefly stays at the home of Ben's sister, Harper. She and her husband try to convince Ben that the children should attend school to receive a conventional education;

Ben quizzes Harper and his children on various topics, such as the Bill of Rights, which shows that his children are reasonably educated.

7)
Ben arrives at Leslie's funeral with their children against Jack's wishes and reads her will, which instructs her family to cremate her and flush her ashes down a toilet, in the hopes of convincing Jack to honour her wishes, only for Jack to have him forcibly removed from the church.

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Angered by Jack's refusal to honour Leslie's wishes, Ben follows the funeral procession to the cemetery, planning to intervene despite a police presence and Jack's threat to have him arrested. Ben only relents at his children's insistence that they cannot lose both of their parents.

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After this, some of Ben's children start to doubt him and his parenting skills, with his second eldest son and middle child Rellian accusing him of failing to treat Leslie's mental health and eldest son Bodevan accusing him of not equipping them for the real world, showing him acceptance letters from several top Ivy League colleges to which Leslie had helped him apply.

10)
Ben finds a note from Rellian, who has run away to live with his grandparents. When Ben visits Jack to get Rellian back, he refuses to go back with him, wanting to stay with his grandparents.

Jack berates Ben and accuses him of child abuse, telling him he is filing for custody of all of Ben's children.

11)
When one of Ben's older twin daughters, Vespyr, Prieto exfiltrates Rellian from their grandparents on Ben's orders clandestinely, she falls from the roof and narrowly avoids breaking her neck.

Ben, shocked and guilty when the hospital tells him how close she was to death, allows Jack to take his children.

Jack assures Ben he's making the right choice by leaving his children in their care, and Ben drives off on his bus.

However, the children dislike living in their grandparents' capitalist environment and miss their father, so they follow Ben back and reconcile with him.

12)
The children desire to honour Leslie's final wishes and persuade Ben to help them. Exhuming her corpse, they burn it on a funeral pyre by the water and perform a singing ceremony in her memory. They flush her ashes down an airport toilet.

13)
As he had wished, Bodevan left the family to travel through Namibia while the rest settled into a more "real-world" life on a farm.

The final scene shows the school-age children eating breakfast around the kitchen table with their father, waiting for the school bus to arrive.

Captain Fantastic (2016)

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