Before Midnight

Nine years since rekindling their relationship,{{refn|group=N|As depicted in Before Sunset (2004)}} Jesse and Céline have become parents to twin girls. Jesse reflects on his inability to maintain his relationship with his teenage son, Hank. Hank flies home to Chicago after vacationing with the couple and their children on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula, and lives with his mother, Jesse's ex-wife.

Jesse is a successful novelist. However, Céline is at a career crossroads; she is considering a job with the French government. The couple discuss their concerns over Hank, as well as Céline's career, and reflect on love and life over dinner with friends. Their friends pay for a hotel room for the couple; while walking to the hotel, Jesse and Céline reminisce about their initial meetings, and wonder if they would become a couple if they met in their present state.

After reaching the hotel, they begin to get intimate but are interrupted by a phone call from Hank, who seems to have bonded with Céline more than Jesse. They eventually have a fierce argument, expressing fears about the strength of their relationship. Jesse wants them to consider moving to Chicago so he can be closer to Hank, which Céline thinks will cost her any chance of a career outside her family. During the argument, Céline leaves and returns twice. Then she tells Jesse she thinks she no longer loves him.

Céline leaves their room the third time and sits alone in the hotel's outdoor restaurant. Jesse joins her and jokes that he is a time traveler (referencing their first meeting),{{refn|group=N|As depicted in Before Sunrise (1995)}} bringing her a letter from her 82-year-old self, describing this night as one of the best of their lives. Unamused, Céline says their fantasies will never match the imperfect reality. Jesse says while their love may be imperfect, it is real. After a moment, Céline joins in Jesse's joke, and the two reconcile.

{{Cast listing|

• Ethan Hawke as Jesse
• Julie Delpy as Céline
• Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Hank
• Jennifer Prior as Ella
• Charlotte Prior as Nina
• Xenia Kalogeropoulou as Natalia
• Walter Lassally as Patrick
• Ariane Labed as Anna
• Yiannis Papadopoulos as Achilleas
• Athina Rachel Tsangari as Ariadni
• Panos Koronis as Stefanos

}}

Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy had all discussed doing a sequel to Before Sunset (or the third in a trilogy). In November 2011, Hawke said that he, Delpy and Linklater

"have been talking a lot in the last six months. All three of us have been having similar feelings, that we're kind of ready to revisit those characters. There's nine years between the first two movies and, if we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again, so we started thinking that would be a good thing to do. So we're going to try and write it this year."{{cite web |url=http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18608764.html |title=Ethan Hawke, l'interview blind-test |publisher=AlloCiné |first=Brigitte |last=Baronnet |date=November 18, 2011|access-date=July 1, 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/23/hawke-delpy-before-sunrise-sequel |title=Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy wake up to possibility of Before Sunrise sequel |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London, England |first=Catherine |last=Shoard |date=November 23, 2011 |access-date=July 1, 2012}}

In June 2012, Hawke confirmed that the sequel to Before Sunset would be filmed that summer.{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/the-woman-in-the-fifth-star-ethan-hawke-on-blurring-the-lines-between-life-and-fiction?page=2 |title='The Woman in the Fifth' Star Ethan Hawke Gets Personal and Talks 'Before Sunset' Follow-Up |publisher=IndieWire |first=Nigel M. |last=Smith |date=June 13, 2012 |access-date=July 1, 2012}} Soon after, Delpy denied filming would take place that year.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-julie-delpy-says-despite-recent-talk-the-before-sunset-wont-shoot-this-summer-20120810 |title=Exclusive: Julie Delpy Says Despite Recent Reports, The 'Before Sunset' Sequel Won't Shoot This Summer |publisher=IndieWire |first=Jennifer |last=Vineyard |date=August 10, 2012 |access-date=September 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922100920/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-julie-delpy-says-despite-recent-talk-the-before-sunset-wont-shoot-this-summer-20120810 |archive-date=September 22, 2012 |url-status=dead }} By that August, numerous reports emerged from Messenia, Greece, that the film was being shot there.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/rumor-is-the-before-sunrise-before-sunset-followup-currently-shooting-in-greece-20120828 |title=Rumor: Is The 'Before Sunrise'/ 'Before Sunset' Follow-Up Currently Shooting In Greece? |publisher=IndieWire |first=Kevin |last=Jagernauth |date=August 28, 2012 |access-date=September 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831234159/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/rumor-is-the-before-sunrise-before-sunset-followup-currently-shooting-in-greece-20120828 |archive-date=August 31, 2012 |url-status=dead }} The completion of the sequel, Before Midnight, was announced on September 5, 2012.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2012/09/toronto-richard-linklater-completes-before-midnight-just-before-festival-begins-329645/ |title=Toronto: Richard Linklater Completes 'Before Midnight' Just Before Fest Begins |website=Deadline Hollywood |first=Mike |last=Fleming |date=September 5, 2012 |access-date=September 12, 2012}} Linklater said that, after ten weeks of writing and rehearsing, the film was made in 15 days for less than $3 million. He announced plans to premiere the film at a festival in early 2013.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-before-midnight-will-look-at-hawke-and-delpy-all-grown-up-20121003,0,1655180.story|title='Before Midnight' will look at Hawke and Delpy all grown up|last=Zeitchik|first=Steven|date=October 3, 2012|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 19, 2012}}

Before Midnight premiered on January 20, 2013, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.{{cite news|url=http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/13120/before_midnight|title=Before Midnight - Festival Program|publisher=Sundance Institute|access-date=January 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130824021154/http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/13120/before_midnight|archive-date=August 24, 2013|url-status=dead}} It had its international premiere out of competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/berlin-completes-official-program-before-midnight-and-final-river-phoenix-film-in-the-mix|title=Berlin Completes Official Program; 'Before Midnight' and Final River Phoenix Film In The Mix |publisher=Indiewire|date=January 18, 2013| access-date=April 2, 2014}}

The film opened to general audiences on May 24, 2013, at five theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas.{{cite web|url=http://www.sonyclassics.com/beforemidnight/dates.html|title=Before Midnight Dates|access-date=May 24, 2013|work=Before Midnight Official Website}} It was released wide in 897 theaters on June 14, 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beforemidnight.htm|title=Before Midnight|work=Box Office Mojo|access-date=August 29, 2013}}

The film grossed $8,110,621 domestically and $15,141,309 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $23,251,930.

Like the previous entry of the trilogy, Before Midnight received widespread critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 98% based on 207 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Building on the first two installments in Richard Linklater's well-crafted Before trilogy, Before Midnight offers intelligent, powerfully acted perspectives on love, marriage, and long-term commitment."{{cite web |title=Before Midnight |work=Rotten Tomatoes | publisher= Flixster |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/before_midnight_2013/ |access-date= April 29, 2020}} Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 94 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |title=Before Midnight |publisher=Metacritic |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/before-midnight |access-date= July 21, 2013}} It was listed as the third-best film of the year after 12 Years a Slave and Gravity.{{cite web |title=2013 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |url=https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013 |website=Metacritic |access-date=March 1, 2022 |archive-date=December 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211032303/https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013 |url-status=dead }} It was the second-best reviewed film of 2013 according to Rotten Tomatoes, after Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity.{{cite web |title=The 15th Annual Golden Tomato Awards|work=Rotten Tomatoes | publisher= Fandango Media |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/golden-tomato-awards-2013/wide/ |access-date= January 12, 2014}}

According to Total Film{{'}}s Philip Kemp, "As with its two predecessors — and with the films of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer, presiding deity of this kind of cinema—Midnight's essentially a film about people talking. But when the talk's this good, this absorbing and revealing and witty and true, who's going to complain?... [It's a] more-than-worthy, expectation-exceeding chapter in one of modern cinema's finest love stories. As honest, convincing, funny, intimate and natural as its predecessors."{{cite web | title= A great conversation starter...| date= June 17, 2013 |first=Philip | last= Kemp | url= http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/before-midnight |work=Total Film | access-date= June 22, 2013}}

Perry Seibert of AllMovie also praised the film, writing: "The screenwriting trio fill the movie with long, discursive conversations (there are only two scenes in the first 20 minutes) that feel utterly improvised when they are performed, but are far too deftly structured to be anything other than the work of consummate artists."Seibert, Perry. [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/before-midnight-v571068/review "Before Midnight (2013)"]. allmovie.com. Retrieved June 28, 2013. Eric Kohn, from Indiewire, gave the film a rave review, adding it to his list of Top 10 Films of 2013. He wrote that "With Before Midnight, Richard Linklater has completed one of the finest movie trilogies of all time."{{cite web | title= Critic's Pick The Top 10 Films of 2013 According to Indiewire's Film Critic| date= December 5, 2013 |first=Kohn | last= Eric | url= https://www.indiewire.com/article/critics-picks-the-top-10-movies-of-2013?page=2#articleHeaderPanel |work=Indiewire | access-date= December 25, 2013}} Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film "intimate and intelligent".{{cite web|title=Before Midnight-review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/20/before-midnight-review|website=The Guardian|date=20 June 2013}}

^{{{note|1|[I]}}} Each date is linked to the article about the awards held that year.

According to Metacritic, the film appeared on the following critics' top 10 lists of 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013 |title=2013 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |last=Dietz |first=Jason |date=December 8, 2013 |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=January 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102162352/http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critic-top-10-lists-best-movies-of-2013 |archive-date=January 2, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}

{{div col}}

• 1st – James Berardinelli, ReelViews
• 1st – The A.V. Club
• 1st – Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
• 1st – Stephen Holden, The New York Times
• 1st – Justin Chang, Variety{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/columns/justin-changs-top-10-films-of-2013-1200946674/ |title=Justin Chang's Top 10 Films of 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=Variety|date=December 13, 2013 }}
• 2nd – A.A. Dowd, The A.V. Club{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/the-best-of-film-2013-the-ballots-200656 |title=The best of film 2013: The ballots |publisher=The A.V. Club |date=December 17, 2013 |access-date=January 20, 2014}}
• 2nd – Nick Schager, The A.V. Club
• 2nd – Total Film's 50 Best Movies of 2013{{cite web|url=http://www.totalfilm.com/features/best-movies-of-2013/before-midnight |title=50 Best Movies Of 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=Total Film}}
• 2nd – E!{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/photos/10815/best-of-2013-top-10-movies/340882 |title=2. Before Midnight from Best of 2013: Top 10 Movies |publisher=E! Online UK |date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=January 20, 2014}}
• 3rd – Lisa Schwarzbaum, BBC{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131223-the-10-best-films-of-2013 |title=Culture - The 10 best films of 2013 |publisher=BBC |date=December 24, 2013 |access-date=January 20, 2014}}
• 3rd – 3 News{{cite web |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/The-Film3-top-10-best-films-of-2013/tabid/418/articleID/326227/Default.aspx |title=The Film3 top 10 best films of 2013 |publisher=3 News |date=December 25, 2013 |access-date=January 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226002753/http://www.3news.co.nz/The-Film3-top-10-best-films-of-2013/tabid/418/articleID/326227/Default.aspx |archive-date=December 26, 2013 |url-status=dead }}
• 3rd – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
• 3rd – Eric Kohn, Indiewire
• 3rd – Film Comment's 50 Best Films of 2013{{cite web|url=http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/50-best-films-of-2013 |title=50 Best Films of 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=Film Comment|date=December 16, 2013 }}
• 4th – Christopher Rosen & Mike Ryan, The Huffington Post
• 4th – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
• 4th – Kristopher Tapleys, HitFix{{cite web|url=http://www.hitfix.com/galleries/overlay/kristopher-tapleys-top-10-movies-of-2013 |title=Kristopher Tapley's Top 10 Movies of 2013 |access-date=January 15, 2014 |work=HitFix}}
• 5th – Robert Gifford, The Diamondback{{cite web |url=http://www.diamondbackonline.com/diversions/article_2f8f38c2-6506-11e3-a824-001a4bcf6878.html |title=The Best Movies of 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=The Diamondback |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192315/http://www.diamondbackonline.com/diversions/article_2f8f38c2-6506-11e3-a824-001a4bcf6878.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead }}
• 6th – Sam Adams, The A.V. Club
• 6th – Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2013/12/17/13-best-movies-of-2013-american-hustle-the-wolf-of-wall-street-and-more.html#4dcf3ca5-db0b-4b92-9030-7c7771612b79 |title=13 Best Movies of 2013 |access-date=December 25, 2013 |work=The Daily Beast}}
• 6th - Lukas Krycek, Comedian/Film Critic {{cite web|url=http://lukaskrycekreviews.blogspot.com/2014/01/top-ten-films-of-2013.html|title=Lukas Krycek reviews: Top ten films of 2013|first=Lukas|last=Krycek|date=January 12, 2014|access-date=May 26, 2017}}
• 7th – Stephanie Zacharek, The Village Voice{{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-12-18/film/the-best-movies-of-2013-zacharek/ |title=Stephanie Zacharek's Favorite Movies of 2013 |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=The Village Voice |archive-date=December 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220045644/http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-12-18/film/the-best-movies-of-2013-zacharek/ |url-status=dead }}
• 7th – Digital Spy{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/at-the-movies/a537715/digital-spys-20-best-movies-of-2013-10-1.html |title=Digital Spy's 20 best movies of 2013: 10-1 |access-date=December 22, 2013 |work=Digital Spy|date=December 22, 2013 }}
• 8th – Empire
• 8th – Scott MacDonald, The A.V. Club
• 8th – Chris Vognar, The Dallas Morning News{{cite web |url=http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/gravity-is-chris-vognars-no-1-movie-of-the-year-what-else-made-the-top-10.html/ |title=Gravity is Chris Vognar's No. 1 movie of the year. What else made the Top 10? |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=Dallas Morning News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218221244/http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/gravity-is-chris-vognars-no-1-movie-of-the-year-what-else-made-the-top-10.html/ |archive-date=December 18, 2013 |url-status=dead }}
• 11th – Ben Kenigsberg, The A.V. Club
• 12th – Glenn Kenny's 30 Top Films of 2013{{cite web|url=http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2013/12/2013-in-review-my-30-top-films.html |title=2013 in review: My 30 top films |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=Some Came Running}}
• 14th – Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The A.V. Club
• In alphabetical order – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
• In alphabetical order – Dana Stevens, Slate
• Best films of 2013 – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/dec/06/peter-bradshaws-favourite-films-2013-braddies |title=The Braddies 2013: Peter Bradshaw nominates his films of the year |access-date=December 20, 2013 |work=The Guardian|date=December 6, 2013 |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Peter }}
• Best movies of the year – David Denby, The New Yorker{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/12/the-best-movies-of-the-year.html |title=The Best Movies of the Year |access-date=December 22, 2013 |magazine=The New Yorker}}
• Best movies of 2013 – The Week{{cite web|url=https://theweek.com/article/index/254016/the-best-movies-we-saw-in-2013 |title=The best movies we saw in 2013 |work=The Week |access-date=January 20, 2014}}

{{div col end}}

The A.V. Club film critics named "The fight" scene the Scene of the Year.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/the-best-film-scenes-of-2013-200650 |title=The best film scenes of 2013 |publisher=Avclub.com |date=December 16, 2013 |access-date=January 20, 2014}}

{{reflist|group=N}}

{{Reflist}}

{{wikiquote|Before Midnight (film)|Before Midnight}}

• {{Official website|http://www.beforemidnightmovie.com/}}
• [https://www.npr.org/2013/05/19/184818250/one-couple-nearly-20-years-all-before-midnight "One couple - nearly 20 years - all before midnight"], NPR, May 19, 2013
• [http://www.sonyclassics.com/awards-information/beforemidnight_screenplay.pdf Official screenplay] at Sony Pictures Classics
• {{facebook|BeforeMidnightFilm|Before Midnight}}
• {{IMDb title|2209418|Before Midnight}}
• {{mojo title|beforemidnight|Before Midnight}}
• {{Metacritic film|title=Before Midnight}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes|before_midnight_2013|Before Midnight}}
• [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4445-the-before-trilogy-time-regained The Before Trilogy: Time Regained] an essay by Dennis Lim at the Criterion Collection

{{Richard Linklater}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Before Midnight}}

Category:2013 films

Category:2013 romantic drama films

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:American sequel films

Category:American independent films

Category:American romantic drama films

Category:Films directed by Richard Linklater

Category:Films set in Greece

Category:Films shot in Greece

Category:Castle Rock Entertainment films

Category:Films about conversations

Category:Films about vacationing

Category:Sony Pictures Classics films

Category:2013 independent films

Category:Before trilogy

Category:2010s American films

Category:Semi-autobiographical films

Category:English-language romantic drama films