Viggo Mortensen Goes Back on the Grid in the ‘Captain Fantastic’ Trailer

Having already won raves at Sundance and secured a slot in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, Captain Fantastic will arrive this summer with a stellar pedigree. But movies have a funny way of playing a little differently in America’s neighborhood cineplexes than in huge auditoriums in France. Today brings the first full trailer for this off-beat festival sensation due for a domestic release on July 8, and from the look of it, it’ll hit that sweet spot right in between indie-film folksiness and tender emotionality. Tears will be shed, hushed guitar pickings will soundtrack key moments, and hearts will be broken in what appears to be a promising bit of counterprogramming to the endless barrage of tentpoles during the summer months.

Viggo Mortensen stars as Ben, a man who has carefully built a utopian society away from the corruptive influence of civilization, with its flavored poison-waters and heathen temptations of the flesh. It’s an idyllic setup until his wife passes away and sets off a chain reaction throwing his world into chaos. Legal battles for custody of the children between Ben and his in-laws that highly disapprove of his nontraditional lifestyle threaten to tear his family and his way of life apart. At the same time, his children get their first taste of real life beyond the insular Pacific Northwest forest where they live and begin to resent their father for depriving them of so many experiences the world has to offer.

The trailer promises steady-handed direction from character actor Matt Ross (Silicon Valley) in his second feature behind the camera, with earthy and naturalistic cinematography to correspond to the subject material. Mortensen gives a reserved, vulnerable performance, and who could possibly turn down the chance to see Kathryn Hahn in another movie?