“Birdman” is, without question, the best film you will see this year.

You may have heard about the insecurity of actors, how fragile their egos are and how hungry they are to be acknowledged as talented, gifted even, at their craft. This film explores these aspects of the profession through the four main characters.

A dark comedy, filmed as though it were shot in one fluid sequence, centers around the comeback of actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton). Thomson has written an adaption of the Raymond Carver short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” and the play is mere days away from its opening night on Broadway.

Prior to this accomplishment, Riggan's major theatrical accomplishment was portraying a superhero-type character, “Birdman.” Twenty years have passed since he refused to put on the feathered costume in a fourth installment.

Riggan not only wrote the adaption, he also directs and stars in the play. He has a lot riding on it — his heart and soul and all the money he has in the world, and one thing more: credibility. This is his comeback role, the one that prove he's a real actor, a serious actor.

Things get complicated quickly when the other male actor in the play is injured during a rehearsal. Desperate to find someone to stand in, a cast mate, Lesley (Naomi Watts) recommends Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), a well-known Broadway theater actor with a reputation for being difficult and unpredictable.

Mike shows up at the St. James Theater a few hours later and much to Riggan's initial delight, already knows all of the lines. He'd been running lines with Lesley for weeks. Riggan, amazed, asks him how he did it. Mike responds simply, “It's a gift.”

Mike is confident, strong and highly opinionated about the performances of the other actors — Riggan included.

His time on the stage, however, is by his own admission, the only place he has it together.

“In the real world, I'm a fraud,” he admits to Sam, Riggan's daughter.

Sam (Emma Stone) is fresh out of rehab and working on as her father's assistant. The two barely know one another. Riggan was too busy being “Birdman” to spend much time with her. Sam cuts to the heart of truth and never sugarcoats what she has to say.

In one scene, Riggan discovers Sam has smoked a joint. Sam, still harboring anger toward her father for his absence during her childhood, acrimoniously shares her observation about his motivations. She is intense and direct in her interactions with all of the characters, but she has a special blend of those attributes just for her father.

Here's a snippet from this scene:

“... And let's face it, Dad, you are not doing this for the sake of art. You are doing this because you want to feel relevant again. Well, guess what? There is an entire world out there where people fight to be relevant every single day, and you act like it doesn't exist ... You hate bloggers, you mock Twitter, you don't even have a Facebook page! You're the one who doesn't exist!”

During moments when Riggan's self doubt and stress level is dangerously high, Birdman is there. That not so little voice in his head. Birdman chides, ridicules and confirms Riggan's worst fears: he isn't relevant, that he's in way over his head, and the only time he was a star were the years he was the Birdman. The inner dialogues with his feathered alter ego (that actually manifests physically in some scenes) often end in rages.

“You saved people from their boring, miserable lives,” alter ego Birdman tells Riggan.

Later in the film, Riggan tells his wife about the “little voice in his head that tells him the truth.” He does not tell her that “little” voice belongs to Birdman.

And, as if there isn't enough drama around him and in his head, there's the nasty theater critic (British actress Lindsay Duncan), Tabitha, who is eagerly waiting to “destroy him” and his play.

“You're no actor, you're a celebrity,” Tabitha tells him.

He tells her she bases her reviews on her crappy opinions and risks nothing, while he and others like him risk everything.

Rounding out the four characters in the play is Laura (Andrea Riseborough), Riggan's girlfriend on and off stage, who tells him she's pregnant. This character isn't as developed as the others.

Antonio Sanchez's jazz soundtrack, particularly the solo drums, punctuate and drive the emotion and backstage drama of the characters. The musical score is also comprises classic pieces, including Mahler and Bach.

Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki's work in this film is breathtaking. In the scenes where Riggan envisions himself sitting cross-legged in the air, flying over Manhattan and moving objects tele-kinetically are truly magical. Many of the scenes in the film have the camera tight on the faces of the characters, adding to the intensity of the viewer's experience watching this film.

Directed by Alejandro González (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Alexander Dinelaris, Nicholás Giacobone and Amando Bo), actors Keaton, Norton, Stone and Watts are stellar. Indeed, all of the actors are solidly brilliant in their portrayal of life behind the camera and the curtain. An Oscar nominations are, I think, inevitable for Keaton, Norton and Stone; and Stone could easily walk away with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

“Birdman,” rated R, opens at The Harbor Theatre Friday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. The film continues Nov. 22, 26, 27, 28 and 29 at 7 p.m.; on Sunday, Nov. 23 and 30 at 3 and 7 p.m.

The Harbor Theatre is located at 185 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor.