This is a part of a series of reviews on Oscar Best Picture nominees.

Twelve years in the making, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a breakthrough in the film industry and now the Oscar Best Picture front-runner.

Boyhood stars Ellar Coltrane as Mason as he grows up. Filmed over 12 years, the film follows Mason through the fun, sad, memorable and hard times in life that most of us have had. Not only is the movie spectacular in retrospective views, but inspires us to “let the moment seize us” and to live life in the present.

Boyhood is a story from a young boy’s perspective and we watch Mason grow before our eyes, from a pondering 5-year old quietly laying on the school grass, watching the clouds to a grown 18-year old, pondering college and what will come next. Throughout the 12-year journey, Mason faces the challenges of growing up with a single parent mom Olivia (Patricia Arquette). Mason and his sister, Linklater’s own daughter Lorelai playing Samantha, experience two broken marriages, one abusive, the other alcoholic. They experience some weekends with their fun-loving, but often absent father (Ethan Hawke), who takes them to baseball games, camping and bowling alleys. Mason tries out drugs and alcohol. They experience the challenges of moving, changing schools and adjusting to new father figures. By the end, both kids are already off to college, and the mother is left alone. And all wrapped up in a bittersweet 156 minute package.

Boyhood is filled with important details, but two very special, bittersweet, tear-jerking, shocking moments don’t come until around the end of the movie. At one point in the movie, Olivia encourages a young Hispanic man working on her house to do more with his life. Years later at dinner with her college kids, she runs into him and learns he took her advice and is now a restaurant manager.

The second moment is shortly after the first, when Mason is packing for college. Olivia reminds him to take the first photo he ever took, but Mason declines, wanting to leave it behind. After 20 years of raising kids, it sinks in that she’s suddenly alone.

While Boyhood is no longer in the theatre, it is out on DVD and it’s a must-see for any age. Teenagers and adults can relate to this bittersweet story of growing up, discovering yourself and relishing the moment.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars