Review of Before Midnight (2013) by Clem666 — 01 Dec 2021

Linklater's last effort in date for the 'Before' trilogy. Without any surprise we attend to another particular movie. As in the prequel we follow Jesse and Céline wandering while questioning each other, showcasing their numerous reflections about their lives, their children, their first encounter and their strange romance story.

They are way more mature than before, more adults in a certain way and we can feel what it costs to be that way. They remain touching as always and it is almost impossible not to feel empathy for them. But what is new in their story is that we witness their respective limits. We see them cross what seems to be a major crisis. While watching them fight for what seemed like an hour to me was quite disturbing and uncomfortable, I can admit that it helps shape their identity as a couple and as two distinct people. I also disliked the fact that this opus was more focus on sex than the others.

If I found the ending very easy and kind of pathetic the succession of events leading to it remains very interesting. With this trilogy we followed two characters more developped than many other movie characters. Amazing. It clearly deserves its 'Must see' label according to me.