Boyhood · written by Richard Linklater · 2014

Driving with Sheena, Mason argues that phones and social media keep people from living fully; Sheena counters that they also provide useful information and connection.

Scene 131 of 160 · ≈ 3 min on screen · Act three

Sheena
Mason

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 2:20 into a 3:02 film

The story so farBefore scene 131

As his mother’s homes and relationships change, Mason grows from a restless child into a young photographer learning to choose his own direction before leaving for college.

Scenes 1–11
Mason’s world is a child’s local orbit of school, siblings, play, and a family not yet displaced.
Scenes 12–23
The move exposes Mason’s wish to keep his friends and stay connected to his absent father while Olivia seeks a more secure life.
Scenes 24–74
Mason enters successive new family arrangements: Dad’s return, Olivia’s marriage to Bill, and finally escape from Bill’s house.
Scenes 75–123
He adapts to new homes and schools, tests independence with friends and work, and develops an eye for photography.
Scene 125
Mason says he wants to do what makes him feel alive instead of performing normality; Sheena’s response grounds that wish in the judgment everyone feels.
Just before
Scene 128
Mason gets into his truck and drives away from the house.
Scene 129
At his restaurant job, Mason jokes with April over leftover shrimp before manager Mr. Wood pushes him back to work and offers a fry-cook role.
Scene 130
Dad checks Mason's car and college plans by video chat; Olivia gives Mason emergency money and reminds him to finish his schoolwork.
Scene 131
This scene

131EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY/ INT. TRUCK

"Suburban Wars" plays. Mason drives, Sheena is in the passenger seat.

SHEENA

... That sounds to me like just

another extreme Mason view of

everything.

MASON

Not at all! I finally figured it

out. It's like when they realized

it was gonna be too expensive to

actually build cyborgs and robots...

I mean, the costs of that were

impossible. They decided to just

let humans turn themselves into

robots. That's what's going on right

now.

SHEENA

Oh, right now?

MASON

Yeah! I mean, why not? There are

billions of us just laying around,

not really doing anything. We don't

cost anything. I mean we're even

pretty good at self-maintenance and

reproducing constantly. And as it

turns out, we're already biologically

programmed for our little cyborg

upgrades.

SHEENA

How?

MASON

Seriously. I read this thing other

day about how, like, when you hear

that ding on your inbox you get a,

like a dopamine rush in your brain.

It's like we're being chemically

rewarded for allowing ourselves to

be brainwashed. How evil is that?

We're fucked.

SHEENA

So you deleting your Facebook page

is gonna change all that? Remember

when Trevor deleted his Facebook

page last year and everyone just

hated him? You made more fun of him

than anyone.

MASON

I still make fun of Trevor, though.

SHEENA