This epic 2014 coming-of-age drama was written and directed by Richard Linklater. It’s a unique film in that it was filmed over 12 years, staring in 2002, with each new section of the narrative showing the actors as they aged.
The main character Mason is six at the start of Boyhood, by the time it ends he’s at university and 18. The drama contained within his journey makes for a very effective film, with all the trials and tribulations running across 165 minutes of unique filmmaking.
12 Years of Developmental Exploration in Boyhood
The film begins in 2002 with Mason Evans (Ellar Coltrane) living with his divorced mother Olivia (Patricia Arquette) and sister (Lorelei Linklater) in Texas. His father Mason Evans Snr. (Ethan Hawke) intermittently flits in and out of their lives, still being young and foolish enough to believe he can make it as a rock star.
He’s officially the Cool, Carefree Dad with his flash car and need to cling to his fading 20s as he refuses to grow up.
Olivia leads the family and is primarily responsible for raising the kids, but her mothering tactics aren’t exactly great and she’s a chaotic woman.
After moving to Houston to get a job teaching at the university, in 2005 she meets older Professor Bill Welbrock (Marco Perella) and the two get married. Mason settles into his new childhood, but over the coming years Bill’s drinking gets increasingly out of control and places the family in danger.
By 2007 he’s abusive and unstable, leading Olivia to flee the marriage with her kids.
Whilst that melodrama plays out, Mason Evans Snr. rocks up from time to time to act as the Cool, Carefree Dad. But as the years tick by, he remarries and starts leaning into a more religious and serious approach to life.
Conversely, Masons’ mother seems to live her life in reverse. Struggling to act like a grown up and becoming depressed and disillusioned that life hasn’t worked out in the way she expected. Meanwhile, her stoic son presides over all this with a detached, laidback cool that suggests he’s well on the way to being sorted in life.
By the time the 2010s kick in, the teenage Mason is hitting it off with the ladies, progressing at high school, and enduring his first breakups. The film ends in 2013 as he enters his senior year and makes plans to attend Sul Ross State University.
That’s condensing everything down, but the real triumph of the film is beyond its unique 12-year filming approach.
It’s simply a very good drama film, faithfully depicting one young boy’s rise to young adulthood with all the common trials and tribulations along the way: divorce, dating, some weird drunk stepdad, experimenting with weed, listening to The Beatles, heading off to uni etc.
All headed by a fantastic cast, offering a naturalistic acting masterclass across a genuinely engaging story. We can all find relatable things in Boyhood, that’s part of its magic, and it also represents the beauty in the passage of time. Something to accept and celebrate, rather than fear and resent.
The Production of Boyhood
Over its 12 year production, the film had a $2.4 million budget. It was a solid success at the box office, raking in $57.3 million worldwide. It was also a massive critical darling, winning a bunch of Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and was nominated for six Oscars.
Boyhood is now regarded as one of the best films of the 21st century.
Yet it began filming without a complete script. Director and writer Richard Linklater had down a solid idea for the story progression, but decided to complete the full screenplay in stages after each new segment was filmed. All of the lead actors contributed ideas at each step of the process. Across 2002 to 2013, the cast and crew would reassemble every few years to shoot for three or four days.
Even though it was shot across 12 years, there were only around 40 days of an actual shoot for the whole thing (each year of Mason’s life is represented onscreen by about 14 minutes). In the film’s world, about 4,000 days pass.
Not as complicated as you may think, then, but it did require strong organisation skills to get everyone in place in time. Plus, as actors, the pressure is on to remember what the hell you were doing over the course of 12 years. That’s where the skill kicks in.
As for the cast these days, lead actor Ellar Coltrane is now 32. After Boyhood’s success, he continued to star across independent films for a few years, but hasn’t done any acting since 2021. Fair play to him, he did what he wanted and didn’t pursue any major Hollywood player type career stuff. A feature in Variety from August 2026 reported on his whereabouts in what happened to the boy from Boyhood?
“Coltrane says he lives ‘in the middle of nowhere,’ and is pursuing several interests: He’s a volunteer fireman, he’s doing EMT (emergency medical technician) training, and is involved in occasional independent films. But though he’s had a few roles such as starring in the indie Shoplifters of the World Unite, he’s not driven to pursue film and TV stardom. ‘I’ve moved on,’ he says.
Unlike many child actors who experienced too much fame too early, Coltrane thinks he was spared that kind of pressure because the world didn’t see the finished product until he was 18, although even then the amount of attention was somewhat overwhelming.”
The feature was to mark a 12-year cast reunion for the film in Austin, attended by all the cast. The likes of Ethan Hawke are big Hollywood names, but some of the other stars have a much lower profile.
Lorelei Linklater is one, the director’s daughter. She’s now 31 and still works as an actor (with a painting gig on the side). She actually lost interest in her role halfway into the project and requested her character to be killed off, which her father refused, although she found her interest again in the later stages.
Director Richard Linklater also had an agreement with Ethan Hawke to finish directing the film, all in the event he should die during the process. Happily, he’s alive and well (now 66) and is still directing indie films.
