Retrospective: Before Sunset (Patreon)

Before Sunset is the Celine-centric movie of the Linklater/Hawke/Delpy trilogy. It's set in Paris, Celine's home city. While Jesse led the conversation in Before Sunrise, Celine takes the lead in the sequel, as Jesse has spent the last nine years developing any listening skills. Celine's arrival at Jesse's book signing kicks off their conversation. The climax of the movie is Celine admitting how badly that night in Vienna fucked her up. And the movie ends in Celine's apartment with Jesse throwing away his life for her.

If Before Sunrise is an unforgettable date that escalates quickly, Before Sunset is the morning after, with the processing, trying to move on, the realization nothing like the night before will ever happen again. It's the onset of a midlife crisis where two people who absolutely adore each other realize they can't bear to be apart ever again, and damn the consequences.

While Sunrise was ultimately a classic romance fused with Nineties post-Cold War ennui, Sunset is almost an anti-romance. It's set in Paris, the consensus Most Romantic Sitting, but Jesse and Celine never consummate their relationship. They realize that while their lives have evolved significantly since Vienna, they're emotionally stuck in the alternate world they created that night but can never revisit. Jesse got to turn his story into a book, but he's trapped in that night. Celine has been deeply damaged by the night, which she'd give anything to revisit. It's somewhat like a Möbius strip, without a resolution, just life continuing as it always does in its horrible way. We'll see that fully realized in the next movie. In the interim, we have Before Sunset, an enthralling and delightful horror movie about approaching middle age. America's greatest saga continues.