Before Midnight – Film Review

On the last night of their idyllic Greek vacation, longtime lovers Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) reminisce about their lives together and what different choices might have brought.

If there’s one thing I cannot get enough of in Richard Linklater‘s Before trilogy, it’s the absolutely incredible, razor-sharp, witty dialogue that keeps chugging along until the end credits roll, because that’s essentially what these movies consist of. Insanely brilliant dialogue that tells us everything we need to know while also not serving as exposition.

These are basically movies in which we, as the viewer, get to experience a lifelong relationship between two hopeless romantics that eventually blossoms into something magical and real. Sunrise was the spark of true love, Sunset was the rekindling of that love, and Midnight is the realization that love is harder than you could have ever imagined.

This is by far the most distinct and unique film in the entire trilogy, mainly because of where our characters are at in their life and relationship. The first two films was basically them in the honeymoon phase. Sure, they had a ton of arguments and they didn’t always agree with each other on a lot of things, but they were constantly swooning over each other.

In Midnight, we see them yelling at each other and not getting along too well to the point where Julie Delpy’s character Céline begins to wonder if she even loves Ethan Hawke’s character Jesse anymore. Their relationship has never looked worse, and yet they still try to make it work.

That’s the beauty of these movies to me – finding that little bit of hope and holding onto it. There’s never a scene in Before Midnight in which either one of these characters simply give up on each other. They are both immensely frustrated and are reaching the breaking point, but they still hold on to each other.

For that reason alone, it’s one of the most unique romantic dramas I’ve ever seen. It’s a movie that’s never afraid to get down to the nitty-gritty about how tough relationships can be after so many years with your significant other. You’re going to have your ups and downs, but whether or not you choose to stay is an entirely different story.

Jesse and Céline have become the people they always feared they would be in this movie, and it can be genuinely difficult to watch as times. You can’t help but wonder where the puppy-love couple we knew from the previous two films went, but as the film progresses, you’ll slowly start to realize that they’re still that puppy-love couple. They’re just older and their life is harder as a result.

This is without a doubt one of my favorite romantic dramas of all time, and it also serves as a dazzling finish to Linklater’s masterful trilogy of films that I’m so glad exists. I’m honestly not entirely sure that we’ll ever see another trilogy like it in the future.

Emotionally moving, heart-wrenching, and uplifting all at once, Before Midnight is a dazzling finish to Richard Linklater’s trilogy of romantic dramas.