The camera work and audio/soundtrack in and about the family homestead are both fabulous; the abundant sense of presence in the outdoors is achieved throughout, to the point of hot summer evening sleeps on the screened porch, and realistic nightsounds of the Louisiana countryside backgrounding the parlance.

Mulligan clearly had a strong sense and knowledge of adolescence. He exhibited incredibly well in so many of his films. His achievement in that regard with his final film, The Man in the Moon, makes it a masterpiece.