Before Midnight

Another 9 years have passed since Jesse (Ethan Hawke) stayed back and started a life with Céline (Julie Delpy) in Europe. Jesse remains a seasoned author who has written 3 novels so far, and Céline is as ambitious as ever in regards to her career. They have twin girls together, but is everything really fine between the couple?

Before Midnight captures what it's like to hold on to our better half whom we love after long years of being together and trying to make it work every single day. Jesse fears missing out on the formative years of his son's life, therefore wishes to move in to the States. From then on, in Céline's own words, the ticking bomb has been lighted. You're given the fear that this relationship is going to end. They argue a lot. Their teases touch the borderline of insult and anger. In fact, every single line or event hints at them leaving one another, with the sunset-watching, Céline saying the red on Jesse's beard that made her fall in love with him has disappeared and her constant pokes at how long will their relationship last being instances. However, the two do reconcile at the end, and to some it may seem no change happened over the course of the picture like the other two movies, while some might think it's a good reversal of expectation.

As usual in all Richard Linklater's flicks, particularly this franchise, the conversations are absolutely arresting! Jesse explaining the ideas for his fourth book is fun, but the lunch table chat flows so smoothly on a whole new level! You could see how distinct each character present there is with their unique perspectives colouring the topics at discussion. The two extremes of old and new generation talking about love and romance places Jesse and Céline in the middle both in terms of position and age, making you wonder where will this relationship go from here. And we have to talk about the climactic hotel room blow-up that's completely heartbreaking! Just by the way the characters get dressed or undressed itself tells a lot about their states of mind in any point of the long disagreement channel… talk about expert blocking! We learn Céline's struggle as a housemaker on top of her career, dreams and aspirations, while Jesse's trying hard to pacify her and bring things around before both admitting they've cheated on each other once or maybe more times.

It's extremely arduous to pull the aforementioned conversations without exceptional actors doing the job, and once again, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are beyond wonderful here! In fact, all the supporting actors who appear briefly did terrific! Technically, Before Midnight is a film that drips in beauty! Graham Reynolds' score is incredibly calm, and the team couldn't have picked a better location than Greece to shoot this presumed final entry of a gem trilogy! Richard Linklater, together with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy has created one of the most realistic look at romantic relationships in cinema across different stages, ever! It's unsure if we'll see these characters again in a potential instalment, but it would be really interesting to experience their lives at their 50s, and maybe later at their 60s, 70s, 80s…