Boyhood · written by Richard Linklater · 2014

Mason asks whether elves are real; Dad says the natural world can be magical even without them.

Scene 54 of 160 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Mason
Dad

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 53 min into a 3:02 film

The story so farBefore scene 54

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.
Scene 30
Mason and Olivia cross the college campus that becomes their new life in Houston, leaving his childhood home behind.
Scene 32
Olivia and Bill return from their honeymoon to a newly joined household, placing Mason inside the family structure that dominates the next chapter.
Scene 45
Dad asks Mason and Samantha to talk honestly during their weekends together, beginning a more mutual father-son relationship.
Just before
Scene 51
Dad brings the children home to a messy apartment where his roommate Jimmy watches a horror movie and resists helping clean.
Scene 52
Dad sings a homemade lullaby about the children and Olivia while Jimmy accompanies him on guitar.
Scene 53
Dad tucks Samantha into bed after their day together, and she apologizes that Mason had to come too.
Scene 54
This scene

54INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Mason is lying on the couch in the dark, trying to sleep. Dad is lying on the other couch, reading a book.

MASON

Dad? There's no like... real magic

in the world, right?

DAD

What do you mean?

MASON

You know, like elves and stuff.

People just made that up.

DAD

Well, I don't know. I mean what makes

you thinks that, that elves are any

more magical than something like...

like a whale?

You know, I mean, what if I told you

a story about how underneath the

ocean, there was this giant sea mammal

that used sonar, and sang songs, and

it was so big that its heart was the

size of a car? And you could crawl

through the arteries? I mean, you'd

think that's pretty magical, right?

MASON

Yeah. But like... right this second,

there's like no... elves in the world,

right?

DAD

No. Technically no elves.