Boyhood

How this film uses it

Linklater watches Mason's childhood without nostalgia or sentimentality. Dull moments stay dull and painful ones stay painful. He makes neither kind bigger or smaller than it was.

Where to see it

The scene where Mason and Samantha watch their parents argue from a window. The film keeps an observer's distance where you might expect to share a child's terror.

How this film uses it

The film runs for nearly 3 hours, and that length is how it makes its point. Each small scene is unremarkable on its own. As they pile up, you start to feel time the way you live through it.

Where to see it

The transitions from year to year. There are no title cards, so the only clues are haircuts, heights and the music playing in the background.

How this film uses it

The last emotional moment works because you have truly watched Mason grow up. When he leaves for college, it moves you because you have seen 12 years of him becoming who he is.

Where to see it

The final morning at home before college. Olivia breaks down over the empty house, and every quiet scene before it is what makes her breakdown hit.

How this film uses it

Ellar Coltrane's actual teenage years are on screen. He lives through the awkwardness, the growth and the eventual ease, so he never has to act them. That makes Mason's development impossible to fake.

Where to see it

The teenage Mason's conversations about photography and meaning. He sounds truly unsure, like a young man still finding his voice.

How this film uses it

Boyhood refuses to turn Mason into a hero or a lesson. He stays unclear and unfinished, and he heads into adulthood without a clear destination. That is, the film's view of the self is that it never gets settled.

Where to see it

The final scene with Nicole. She says that people do not seize moments, moments seize them, and Mason agrees. The film gently lets the air out of the big idea. There is no big arrival, just the next moment.