How to Watch the Before Trilogy

Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy is cinema’s greatest love story—not because it’s idealized, but because it’s real. Across three films spanning 18 years, we watch Jesse and Celine meet, reunite, and navigate long-term love. Here’s your guide to experiencing it.

The Films in Order

1. Before Sunrise (1995)

Jesse (Ethan Hawke), an American traveler, and Celine (Julie Delpy), a French student, meet on a train and spend one night walking through Vienna. They talk about life, love, and everything in between, knowing they’ll part at dawn.

Why it matters: Linklater captured something rare—the electric potential of connection. The entire film is conversation, yet it’s never boring. We fall in love with them as they fall for each other.

Key themes: Chance encounters, romantic possibility, the intensity of youth

2. Before Sunset (2004)

Nine years later, Jesse is in Paris promoting a novel based on their night together. Celine appears at his reading. They have roughly an hour before his flight to reconnect and confront what happened—and didn’t happen—after Vienna.

Why it matters: Before Sunset deepens the story by showing how one night affected two lives. The real-time structure creates urgency. The ending is one of cinema’s most perfect moments.

Key themes: Regret, second chances, the gap between dreams and reality

3. Before Midnight (2013)

Another nine years. Jesse and Celine are together now, vacationing in Greece with their twin daughters. But partnership has replaced romance’s early spark, and a single night will test whether they can survive the transition.

Why it matters: Most romances end at “happily ever after.” Before Midnight shows what comes next—the compromises, resentments, and work that sustain love. It’s uncomfortable and essential.

Key themes: Long-term love, sacrifice, communication

Viewing Order

Watch in release order: Before Sunrise → Before Sunset → Before Midnight

There’s no alternative. The trilogy’s power comes from watching Jesse and Celine age in real time across 18 years. Skipping ahead ruins the emotional investment.

Before You Watch

What You Need to Know

• These are conversation films. The plots are simple: people talk while walking. If you need constant action, this isn’t for you.
• The actors co-wrote with Linklater. Hawke and Delpy became collaborators, contributing to the authenticity.
• Each film’s tone shifts. Sunrise is hopeful, Sunset is melancholic, Midnight is challenging.

What to Watch For

The walking: Linklater uses movement to sustain visual interest during long takes. Watch how the environment reflects the characters’ states.

Real-time moments: Sunset especially uses near-real-time pacing to create tension as Jesse’s departure approaches.

The camera’s distance: Long takes and two-shots let conversations breathe without cutting away.

The Nine-Year Gaps

The trilogy’s genius is its production schedule. Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy reunited after real years had passed:

• 1995 → 2004: Hawke and Delpy were young when filming Sunrise, lived full lives, then returned changed.
• 2004 → 2013: Marriage, children, divorce (for Hawke), and aging informed Midnight’s conflicts.

This isn’t acting in the traditional sense—it’s channeling lived experience into fiction.

Connections Between Films

What Carries Forward

• The Vienna night: Referenced and recontextualized in each film. What seemed pure in Sunrise looks different by Midnight.
• Their philosophies: Jesse’s romantic optimism and Celine’s pragmatic realism create ongoing tension.
• What went wrong: The six months after Vienna haunts Sunset, and the choices they made haunt Midnight.

Character Evolution

Jesse: Idealistic young traveler → blocked novelist living with regret → committed partner struggling with sacrifice

Celine: Confident, curious student → activist disappointed by life’s directions → mother questioning her choices

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I just watch Before Sunset?

It’s the most acclaimed of the three, but you’ll miss crucial context. The emotional payoff requires watching Sunrise first.

Is Before Midnight depressing?

It’s honest. Long-term relationships require confronting difficulties that new love ignores. Some viewers find the extended argument scene difficult, but it’s truthful.

Will there be a fourth film?

Linklater has suggested the possibility. If the pattern holds, it would arrive around 2022-2024 and show Jesse and Celine in their fifties. As of now, nothing is confirmed.

Are these films only for couples?

No. The trilogy explores human connection beyond romance—how we construct ourselves through conversation, how time changes perspective, how we reconcile dreams with reality.

Where to Watch

The Before Trilogy is available for rental on major digital platforms. Criterion Collection released a box set for collectors.

Watch in comfortable settings where you can focus on dialogue. These reward attention.

After You Watch

More Richard Linklater

• Boyhood (2014): Another long-term project, filming a boy’s growth over 12 years
• Dazed and Confused (1993): High school hangout film with similar conversation focus
• Waking Life (2001): Animated philosophy conversations, featuring Jesse and Celine briefly

More Conversation Films

• My Dinner with Andre (1981): The template for dialogue-driven cinema
• In the Mood for Love (2000): Different style, similar emotional restraint
• Lost in Translation (2003): Connection between strangers in a foreign city

For more romance recommendations, see our guide to Best Romance Movies.