Before Midnight
2013 · Directed by Richard Linklater
Original language: English
- romance
- drama
The story
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 at 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.
What it’s like
Warm Mediterranean daylight and sun-bleached Greek hillsides give way to dim hotel rooms lit by lamplight and the blue wash of a late night, with the camera mostly holding still and letting two people talk in long, unbroken takes that drift between a sun-struck terrace and a bedroom. The palette runs on ochre, olive and sea-glass tones, with a naturalistic, unhurried texture that feels like a slow summer afternoon stretching into an uneasy evening. Dialogue carries nearly all of it, sparse music appears only at the edges, and silence between lines does real work. The vibe is wry, bittersweet and intimate, a kind of grown-up melancholy that suits a late evening alone, a long-haul flight, or a quiet rewatch with a glass of wine. Pacing is patient and conversational, with a few sharp swings of humour and anger. Its emotional arc follows a long-married couple testing whether love can survive resentment and fatigue, with real tenderness underneath. The intensity is low: a few arguments with raised voices and some frank sexual talk, but no violence, gore or fear. It is for viewers who enjoy talky, character-driven romance and mature, lived-in relationships.
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