Boyhood (2014)

Twelve years of shooting, and Boyhood’s final hour mostly belongs to a teenager mumbling about the meaning of life like he just discovered philosophy in a parking lot. Ellar Coltrane grows up on screen, but he grows into a pretty passive lead, and at 165 minutes you’ll feel the drift. Still, nothing else is quite like it. Mason gets older between cuts with no title cards and no fanfare, just a new haircut and a new song on the radio. Patricia Arquette is the backbone of the film, a mom who keeps rebuilding while the men around her come and go, including a stepdad whose drinking turns their home into a frightening place. Ethan Hawke grows up too, slowly, from a fun weekend dad into an actual father. Lorelei Linklater is the funniest person in it, rolling her eyes through every phase. An 8.8 because no other movie captures time slipping by quite like this. $2,249 says you look at your current haircut tonight and wonder which era of you the future will laugh at.

What works: Watching a family age for real on screen is unlike anything else, and Patricia Arquette anchors every chapter.

What doesn’t: The last hour drifts with a teenage lead who mostly mumbles, and 165 minutes asks a lot of patience.

Who it’s for: Parents, grown kids and anyone who has looked at an old family photo and wondered where the years went.