‘Boyhood’ Trailer: Richard Linklater’s 10-Years-in-the-Making Drama is Almost Here

The 'Boyhood' trailer isn't shy about sharing the film's countless accolades (including one from our own Mike Ryan), but can you blame 'em? Richard Linklater's upcoming epic won rave reviews out of Sundance and SXSW, where it was described as a masterpiece and one of the best films of the year. If the trailer is any indication, none of that is empty hype -- this looks like something truly special.

Shot from 2002 to 2013, 'Boyhood' follows a young man's life from age six to 18, examining his childhood in ways both mundane and dramatic. Of course, the hook of the film is that Linklater used the same actors for the duration of the 11-year shoot, so we literally get to watch young star Ellar Coltrane grow from a child into a man before our very eyes. He's backed up by pros like Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette, but make no mistake: this is his movie.

Here's the official synopsis, but this seems like the kind of experience that no basic plot summary could do justice:

The film tracks 6 year-old Mason (Ellar Coltrane) over life's most radically fluctuating decade, through a familiar whirl of family moves, family controversies, faltering marriages, re-marriages, new schools, first loves, lost loves, good times, scary times and a constantly unfolding mix of heartbreak and wonder. But the results are unpredictable, as one moment braids into the next, entwining into a deeply personal experience of the incidents that shape us as we grow up and the ever-changing nature of our lives.

As the story begins, dreamy-eyed grade-schooler Mason faces upheaval: his devoted, struggling single mom Olivia (Patricia Arquette) has decided to move him and older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater) to Houston -- just as their long-absent father Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) returns from Alaska to re-enter their world. Thus begins life's non-stop flux. Yet through a tide of parents and stepparents, girls, teachers and bosses, dangers, yearnings and creative passions, Mason emerges to head down his own road.

'Boyhood' will arrive in theaters on July 11, 2014.