Boyhood (2014)
89%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
173 wins & 218 nominations total
Epic in technical scale but breathlessly intimate in narrative scope, Boyhood is a sprawling investigation of the human condition.
Boyhood is like a time capsule of growing up, but instead of burying it in the ground, Richard Linklater put it on the big screen. It’s a coming-of-age story that feels so real, you’ll swear you’re watching your own childhood memories. The casting of Ellar Coltrane as the lead was a stroke of genius, and watching him grow up before our eyes is nothing short of amazing. Sure, there are some flaws, like the sister disappearing halfway through, but the overall impact of the film is tremendous. It’s like a warm hug from your past, and you’ll want to relive it over and over again.
Production Company(ies)
Big Beach Films, Tencent Pictures, Tri Star Pictures,
Distributor
IFC Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Austin, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language including sexual references, and for teen drug and alcohol use
Year of Release
2014
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 45m
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Language(s):English, Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 18, 2014 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 6, 2015
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater, Tamara Jolaine, Nick Krause, directed by Richard Linklater, written by Richard Linklater, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Chris Nashawaty, Candice Frederick, David Sims, Jason Bailey, David Edelstein, Jocelyn Noveck, Danilo Castro, Gautam Anand, Cory Woodroof, James Croot, Jason Adams, Yasmin Omar, MPAA rating R, growing up, family, childhood, adolescence, milestones, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, human condition, 12 years, IFC Films, Cathleen Sutherland, produced by Richard Linklater, English, sexual references, language, teen drug and alcohol use
Worldwide gross: $48,137,666
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $60,159,914
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,255
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 6,560,514
US/Canada gross: $25,352,281
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,683,943
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,257
US/Canada opening weekend: $387,618
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $484,425
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,416
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,998,989
Production budget ranking: 1,909
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,691,956
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $52,468,970
ROI to date (est.): 682%
ROI ranking: 186
Patricia Arquette – Olivia
Ethan Hawke – Mason Sr.
Lorelei Linklater – Samantha
Tamara Jolaine – Tammy
Nick Krause – Charlie
Director(s)
Richard Linklater
Writer(s)
Richard Linklater
Producer(s)
Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
Film Festivals
Sundance, Berlin, South by Southwest
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
173 wins & 218 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (331) | Top Critics (93) | Fresh (320) | Rotten (11)
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.
October 11, 2018 | Rating: A
Chris Nashawaty
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
An audacious effort from a filmmaker whose ability to embed the audience in his stories is unmatched.
September 2, 2017 | Rating: A+
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
Calling it a sum of its parts can be a backhanded compliment, but it feels like especially worthy praise for Boyhood, considering how much went into making it feel whole.
September 22, 2016
David Sims
The Atlantic
TOP CRITIC
‘Boyhood’ reveals itself as something deeper, more noteworthy and ambitious than even its remarkable production would suggest, for Linklater has given us nothing less than a cinematic approximation of human memory.
June 18, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
We can quibble with small stuff in Boyhood. Supporting performances are variable, the sister drops out as a dramatic character … I could go on. But the cumulative power is tremendous.
January 2, 2015
David Edelstein
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
While everything about Boyhood is done with extraordinary care, the master stroke was clearly the casting, 13 years ago, of a little Texas boy named Ellar Coltrane.
January 2, 2015 | Rating: 4/4
Jocelyn Noveck
Associated Press
TOP CRITIC
Linklater did the unthinkable, which is to capture our collective youth on film so that we may be able to relive it over and over again.
May 17, 2022 | Rating: 9/10
Danilo Castro
Next Best Picture
The best feature of Boyhood is that it derives beauty, joy, and emotion out of the ordinary lives of people.
March 25, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Gautam Anand
The Cinemaholic
It’s a beautiful coming-of-age tale that boasts as strong an ensemble as can be and completely nails what it meant to grow up over the past decade or so.
February 11, 2022
Cory Woodroof
Williamson Home Page
The magnum opus of one of the most creative directors of the past three decades is also perhaps the ultimate coming-of-age story.
January 6, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
It’s not you, Richard, it’s me – we’ll more specifically it’s us. We clash. We’re like an acoustic guitar dipped in peanut butter, you and me, Richard Linklater.
July 2, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Boyhood exudes a verisimilitude seldom seen in cinema, an open-ended, fly-on-the-wall naturalness that appears unscripted.
June 25, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Yasmin Omar
Harper’s Bazaar…
Plot
Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film Boyhood was filmed over the course of 12 years, with the same cast aging and growing alongside the characters.
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