Before Midnight
Before Midnight
It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters, but have spent a summer in Greece on the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.
Kevin Ward reviewedJuly 3, 2025
Closing out The Before Trilogy, I wasn’t keen on this one for the first half or so. It changes up the format quite a bit from the outset. It’s not exclusively long takes between just Céline and Jesse. In fact, there’s barely any of that until the second half of the film. And what we do get, again, closes off one of the open-ended endings of the previous film, giving us a reality that is pretty messy. Instead of picturesque romance and happily ever after, we’re met with a familial unit bogged down with responsibilities, resentment and a dwindling romantic flame. It wasn’t until Hawke and Delpy fall back into their old rhythm that this took hold again, as they look back on the events of their past—how time has changed their perspective on that night back in Vienna and everything that’s happened since.
Jesse muses about a potential new novel, one where the lovers don’t experience time sequentially, but rather their past, present and future exist all at once. I realize that this is really how this trilogy should be perceived as well. Where at once I felt events of the second and third films somewhat undercut the romance of the first, Jesse’s new novel suggests that it can’t be undercut or negated. That night, that experience will always exist. In spite of vast character changes throughout the 18 year span, i could see myself in each character, essentially existing within them simultaneously, as well. It’s kind of how I felt watching The Worst Person in the World, which is to say, I really loved it. An incredibly authentic perspective of love and relationships. And a wonderfully executed story with a scope only Linklater would really dare to even attempt. Thanks to those of you that recommended this.