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Boyhood

Play trailer 1:45 Poster for Boyhood R Released Jul 18, 2014 2h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
97% Tomatometer 331 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
The joys and pitfalls of growing up are seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), his parents (Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke) and his sister (Lorelei Linklater). Vignettes, filmed with the same cast over the course of 12 years, capture family meals, road trips, birthday parties, graduations and other important milestones. Songs from Coldplay, Arcade Fire and other artists capture the time period. Directed by Richard Linklater.
Boyhood

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Epic in technical scale but breathlessly intimate in narrative scope, Boyhood is a sprawling investigation of the human condition.

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Critics Reviews

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Shadow and Act Staff Shadow and Act ...it’s hyperbolic in its minimalism and boring in spots and its overall narrative reach often exceeds its grasp. Even still, it’s one of the most important movies of the decade so far and you should experience it just to say you did. Sep 15, 2022 Full Review Chris Nashawaty Entertainment Weekly Like Michael Apted in his Seven Up! documentary series, Linklater makes you feel as if you're watching a photograph as it develops in the darkroom. Rated: A Oct 11, 2018 Full Review Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online An audacious effort from a filmmaker whose ability to embed the audience in his stories is unmatched. Rated: A+ Sep 2, 2017 Full Review JD Duran InSession Film Boyhood was an incredibly risky project but the end product feels so genuine... Rated: A Aug 19, 2024 Full Review Benjamín Harguindey EscribiendoCine Boyhood is one of those rare experimental films that manages to achieve exactly what they were looking for through that experiment. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 10/10 Jun 24, 2024 Full Review Don Shanahan Every Movie Has a Lesson What makes Boyhood this extraordinary experience and achievement is the opposite of that adjective: the ordinary. Linklater and company sought to deliver a genuine interpretation of a life experience without flashy movie bells and whistles. Rated: 5/5 Feb 16, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Phillip M Epic coming of age/boy to man tale. Aside from the 12 year production and judging on its merits, it was ponderous. Felt like a fly-on-the-wall come rality tv soap without the drama. There were few moments of interest. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke provided much needed energy. Too long. Plus, difficult to relate to if like myself you grew up very working class and in Europe. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/24/24 Full Review julie b This made me feel so many things - it was funny, sad, and incredibly nostalgic. It felt so real and not like a movie at all, like it was just life and I was observing. I loved how it brought back so many memories of growing up in the early 2000s - at every stage rach and I would say “omggg remember X!?”. Plus you already know I love Ethan Hawke and Linklater, so it’s crazy it took me this long to watch it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/23/24 Full Review Alejandro E If watching twelve years of a child's life for about 3 hours has its charm, it is because Linklater did his best to make the development of the plot, and the characters, look completely natural, realistic. It is not superfluous to see it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Collem T A very moving film. Deserved the attention it got. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/20/24 Full Review Kesava Dharshan Man, this guy has his own way of making movies! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/14/24 Full Review Steven M Richard Linklater’s coming of age epic Boyhood is a cinematic marvel. Through a whopping 12 years of production, this film’s scope is awe-inspiring. There are few experiences in art where we have the opportunity to grow, learn, and experience with a set of characters over a period of more than a decade. In this way, Boyhood is not only something to be experienced, but something to be sought out, shared, and beloved. Transfixing in its presentation and clocking in at just over 165 minutes, there is a shocking lack of grandiosity and ostentatiousness, and instead favoring humility on an intimate and empathetic scale. Every scene in this film is carried with the weight of a life, and it almost feels like we have an opportunity to interact, and create a life well lived. The entirety of this body of work is equal parts enriching, devastating, kindred, forlorn, and alive. The whirlwind of time that we are cast into is breathtaking, almost like a 12-year time capsule has been unleashed - the war on terror, Gameboys, iPods, the housing crisis of 2008, and countless other pieces of history that cement our characters’ lives in an intimately vulnerable and nostalgic reality. It’s so interesting to be in this kind of perspective. We are just beyond the realm of experience where we are so close to this evolution of a person, yet not so much that we are overstepping. The events of the film flow over us like a waterfall, changing temperature as the mood of the world we are in sways from bitter cold, to loving warmth, to something in between that I can’t quite put my finger on. This kind of divine display of sonder is a blessing - a true coming of age journey. Boyhood has spoken to me in a way that not many other movies have. With my own son on the way, this masterpiece made me identify with a great deal of our characters’ experiences. The power of cinema on those who enjoy it is endlessly magical, and fatherhood - boyhood - is a red-letter day. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/03/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Boyhood

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Cast & Crew

Boyhood

Boyhood: Official Clip - I Will Not Be That Guy Boyhood: Official Clip - I Will Not Be That Guy 1:50 Boyhood: Official Clip - I Just Thought There Would Be More Boyhood: Official Clip - I Just Thought There Would Be More 2:44 Boyhood: Official Clip - Daddy's Lullaby Boyhood: Official Clip - Daddy's Lullaby 3:04 Boyhood: Official Clip - You Are Responsible For You Boyhood: Official Clip - You Are Responsible For You 2:40 Boyhood: Official Clip - The Moment Seizes Us Boyhood: Official Clip - The Moment Seizes Us 1:47 Boyhood: Official Clip - She Hit Me First! Boyhood: Official Clip - She Hit Me First! 1:41 Boyhood: Official Clip - You're Kinda Weird Boyhood: Official Clip - You're Kinda Weird 1:39 Boyhood: Official Clip - The Sex Talk Boyhood: Official Clip - The Sex Talk 2:42 Boyhood: Official Clip - You Think That's Funny? Boyhood: Official Clip - You Think That's Funny? 2:17 Boyhood: Official Clip - Birthdays, Bibles and Guns Boyhood: Official Clip - Birthdays, Bibles and Guns 2:17 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis The joys and pitfalls of growing up are seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), his parents (Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke) and his sister (Lorelei Linklater). Vignettes, filmed with the same cast over the course of 12 years, capture family meals, road trips, birthday parties, graduations and other important milestones. Songs from Coldplay, Arcade Fire and other artists capture the time period. Directed by Richard Linklater.
Director
Richard Linklater
Producer
Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
Screenwriter
Richard Linklater
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Detour Filmproduction
Rating
R (Sexual References|Language|Teen Drug and Alcohol Use)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 18, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 7, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$25.4M
Runtime
2h 45m