Before Midnight

What happens after the “happily ever after” in life? 

You meet someone. You have that “chase”, bouts of passion maybe, and then slow down to connect on a deeper level. 

You think about the future and can’t help but smile as your head is high in the clouds. You have your doubts and some set backs but you happily start a relationship.

You get married.

You live happily ever after. 

That’s what is scripted in all the movies at least. A clean and happy ending. Loose ends are tied neatly into bows. 

Before Midnight is all about that post “happily ever after” phase. After that honeymoon phase, you slow down. Reality creeps in. Passion slowly seeps out.  The real testament of that relationship you built when you were high on your brain pushing dopamine is now being tested in the most banal situations of everyday life. It can get ugly and it may be depressing but it’s reality.

Before Midnight isn’t for everyone but It’s a film that is so refreshingly honest because Ethan Hawke and Julie Delby give the audience a unique experience with their well written & well delivered dialogue. The conversations between the two characters are relatable to anyone who has been through a long term relationship and this is where the audience engages and connects. Though the dialogue can run a little dry at some points which makes the audience question if it’s going anywhere but if you pay careful attention - there’s a direction and purpose.  

This is the third installment of Richard Linklater’s trilogy (for now); a unique triology which starts in 1995 when Hawke’s and Delby’s characters first meet on a train in Before Sunrise. 

Where Before Sunrise observes the inherent hopefulness of young love and Before Sunset examines the evitable disappointment and regret of adulthood, Before Midnight just as masterfully highlights the intricacies of making a long-term relationship work, and the impasse most couples face when the very things that made them fall in love in the first place begin to drive them apart.

“Watching these two characters walk and talk feels a hell of a lot more interesting — and true — than watching characters in a big-budget romantic comedy rush around obsessing about their wedding. Before Midnight understands that long-term love never comes easy, and romance isn’t always about long walks in a Viennese park.”

The most poignant part of the film for me:  

Celine: If we were meeting for the first time today on the train, would you start talking to me, would you ask me to get off the train with you?

Jesse: Of course.

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