15 Most Underrated Movies Of 2016

Director Matt Ross’ indie comedy-drama Captain Fantastic stars Viggo Mortensen as a father living off the grid with his large brood of children in the wilds of America’s Pacific Northwest who must re-enter civilised society after the suicide of the family’s matriarch. When it was screened at Cannes this year, the film received a ten-minute long standing ovation and scooped Ross the Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Director.

Distributors Bleecker Street opted for a July release date with the intention of offering moviegoers an alternative to summer blockbusters, but that plan seemingly backfired when audiences favoured big budget flicks like Jason Bourne and Star Trek Beyond during its opening weekend. Regardless of being eclipsed by blockbusters, it’s still an excellent film. Mortensen is great as grieving father Ben, at once both arrogantly principled yet warm and loving, and even its younger cast are brilliant never straying into the kind of overly cutesy or annoying territory that child actors often do. Overall, it’s a more than worthy indie flick that deserves far more attention than it got.