Matt Ross, who directed "Captain Fantastic", is actually primarily an actor and has appeared in films such as "American Psycho" (2000) and "In the Body of the Enemy" (1997) as well as series such as "American Horror Story" and "Silicon Valley". . After his debut film “28 Hotel Rooms” (2012), “Captain Fantastic” was the second work he directed and for which he also wrote the script himself. As the lead actor for Captain Fantastic, Matt Ross was able to hire Viggo Mortensen, who enjoys appearing in indie films, who became world famous for his role as Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” and who experienced life without a functioning electricity and water supply in the post-apocalyptic drama “The Road” (2009) has already been tested on film. He was joined as supporting actors by Frank Langella (Robot and Frank - Two Thieving Accomplices), Steve Zahn (Sahara - Adventures in the Desert) and Missi Pyle (Gone Girl - The Perfect Victim).
“Captain Fantastic” is not a superhero, but just a simple man whose actual name is Ben (Viggo Mortensen). Ben is the father of no less than six very young children and lived with his daughters and sons for many years in the forests of the Pacific Northwest in Washington state, USA. The family was able to survive there with the simplest means and as self-sufficient, far away from the latest technology and the noise and pace of the rest of the world. Now Ben returns from this primitive world to modern society. But if returning to civilization is an enormous challenge for him, reintegration is much more difficult for his children, because they have never experienced life outside the forest before.