Before Midnight

Directed by Richard Linklater. Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy. 109 mins

In cinemas June 21

Earnest Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and passionate Celine (Julie Delpy) have returned, no longer the naïve students of 1995’s Before Sunrise or the hopeful adults of 2004’s Before Sunset.
Suddenly on the cusp of middle-age, the couple are holidaying in Greece. They spend a night talking, philosophising, reminiscing and feuding.
Now parents and successful – if not fulfilled – professionals, the married couple’s lives are bigger, though not in the way they once imagined. There are children, careers and responsibilities; and the toll can be detected in the jagged edges of their banter.
As a provocative Celine, Delpy brings a likeable honesty to a potentially insufferable character. A feminist and environmentalist, she sees the personal as inextricable from the political and says things like, “Women explore for eternity in the vast garden of sacrifice!”
Meanwhile, Hawke’s natural blend of boyish charm and intellectualism can be both funny and manipulative. Unfolding in luxurious takes, the beautifully-observed, sharply perceptive script feels like an intimate dance. It’s the perfect movie about how beautiful imperfect relationships can be.