An amazing first-of-its-kind movie has captured the coming of age of a young boy, using the same actor over the course of 12 years.

Boyhood’s creator Richard Linklater chose seven-year-old Ellar Coltrane as his lead character, Mason, in 2002.

And the incredible experiment saw the group of actors, including Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette who play Mason’s parents, reunite every summer for more than a decade to tell the story of a child growing up – right up until he leaves for college.

Not only does the young actor turn into a man before the audience’s eyes, Hawke and Arquette age and change on screen over the years.

Boyhood premiered at Sundance in January and went down a storm at the Berlin Festival in February.

The trailer has just been released and the movie will hit cinemas in the summer.