Boyhood · written by Richard Linklater · 2014

As Samantha talks on the phone about leaving friends, Mason paints over the height marks on his bedroom doorjamb.

Scene 16 of 160 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Samantha

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 11 min into a 3:02 film

The story so farBefore scene 16

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.
Scene 12
Olivia announces the Houston move so she can return to college and support the family, uprooting Mason from his first home and friends.
Just before
Scene 13
Mason asks whether Olivia still loves his absent father and worries he will not find them after the move; she reassures him.
Scene 14
The moving van leaves as Olivia adds another discarded item to the curbside pile.
Scene 15
Olivia asks Mason to touch up the marks in their empty bedroom before they leave.
Scene 16
This scene

16INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

Meanwhile, Samantha is talking on the phone.

SAMANTHA

(on phone)

She says we're gonna come visit and

I'm gonna write and call you. Oh,

wait, hold on a second. I'm getting

another call.

(Pushes Flash)

Hello? Sorry, Tommy, Mason can't

come over today. We're moving. And

I'm on the other line. Bye.

(Pushes Button)

Althea? I'm gonna be sending Sailor

Scout instructions. Email, and write

back telling me how the other scouts

are doing. Well, because you're the

leader now.

During the last bit of this conversation, Mason slowly paints over the "growth chart" lines on the bedroom door jamb.