Review of Before Midnight (2013) by Mark L — 23 Nov 2013

I was fortunate to see this film in Penticton's Landmark Theatre during a local film festival, fortunate because the film was limited release and apparently never appeared in any other local theatres for any sort of a run.

This film fulfills the promise of Before Sunrise (when they meet and promise to meet each other again) in which a seed of love grows and is left to the promise of a future, and Before Sunset (in which they meet years after a planned meeting failed to occur) in which the seed of love had withered (if not died) and they meet again as different people who have other loved ones in their life.

Before Midnight brings us back together with them as a couple with children who are doing their best to be a domestic couple though without the bond of marriage. Essentially a common law couple with competing and conflicting interests and demands, Celine and Jesse try to renew their love with the children while on holiday in Greece.

The environment, as in the two previous films, serves as an important contrast and highlighter of their relationship. Whereas the romance of old world Vienna drew them together and ignited sparks, the modern Paris bore witness to the complications of adulthood and their divergent life paths, and Greece with its old world charm serves as an antagonist and a spur to the renewal of their love and commitment to each other.

Each of the three films have adult issues and subjects but Before Midnight is the more notable for its visible depiction of their romantic relationship, nudity is involved and mostly on the part of Delpy, and so the film series is a most adult look at different times in a relationship. 10/10.

If you were unable to see this in cinema then I recommend searching online for a copy of the dvd or blue-ray, going to an actual store such as Walmart or, if possible, renting it from a video store or from Red Box machines which may be located at your local Walmart.