R
2013    1h 49mRomance, Drama
7.998%82%7.5
Watch on Apple TV
On Apple TV
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It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters, but have spent a summer in Greece on the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.
Directed by Richard Linklater
  • Ethan HawkeJesse / Writer
  • Julie DelpyCéline / Writer
  • Seamus Davey-FitzpatrickHank
  • Jennifer PriorElla
  • Charlotte PriorNina
  • Xenia KalogeropoulouNatalia
  • Walter LassallyPatrick
  • Ariane LabedAnna
  • Yiannis PapadopoulosAchilleas
  • Athina Rachel TsangariAriadni / Co-Producer
  • Panos KoronisStefanos
  • Enrico FocardiChild
  • Manolis GoussiasChild
  • Anouk ServeraChild
  • Yota ArgyropoulouHotel Clerk
  • Serafeim RadisHotel Clerk
  • John SlossAirport Traveller in Opening Scene (uncredited) / Executive Producer
  • Tety KalafatiAir Stewardess (uncredited)
  • Richard LinklaterDirector / Writer / Producer
  • Martin ShaferExecutive Producer
  • SirMonkalot
    SirMonkalotAugust 27, 2026
    I love this trilogy so much and I can’t believe I only got around to watching it now. This one is different than the other two but it’s just as perfect. I wish it would have gone a different way but honestly I wouldn’t have changed a thing if that makes any sense. Each movie does a great job at taking a snapshot of these two characters lives and this one kind of felt the most honest and real. Life is messy and not every moment is a perfect one.
  • thomasrogers753
    thomasrogers753June 23, 2026
    Greatest trilogy OAT
  • Paulis & Manu
    Paulis & ManuMarch 4, 2026
    One of my all time favourites. Entertaining, real, raw, romantic, and profoundly human. Character cinema at its best
  • Kevin Ward
    Kevin WardJuly 3, 2025
    Closing out The Before Trilogy, I wasn’t keen on this one for the first half or so. It changes up the format quite a bit from the outset. It’s not exclusively long takes between just Céline and Jesse. In fact, there’s barely any of that until the second half of the film. And what we do get, again, closes off one of the open-ended endings of the previous film, giving us a reality that is pretty messy. Instead of picturesque romance and happily ever after, we’re met with a familial unit bogged down with responsibilities, resentment and a dwindling romantic flame. It wasn’t until Hawke and Delpy fall back into their old rhythm that this took hold again, as they look back on the events of their past—how time has changed their perspective on that night back in Vienna and everything that’s happened since. 

Jesse muses about a potential new novel, one where the lovers don’t experience time sequentially, but rather their past, present and future exist all at once. I realize that this is really how this trilogy should be perceived as well. Where at once I felt events of the second and third films somewhat undercut the romance of the first, Jesse’s new novel suggests that it can’t be undercut or negated. That night, that experience will always exist. In spite of vast character changes throughout the 18 year span, i could see myself in each character, essentially existing within them simultaneously, as well.  It’s kind of how I felt watching The Worst Person in the World, which is to say, I really loved it. An incredibly authentic perspective of love and relationships. And a wonderfully executed story with a scope only Linklater would really dare to even attempt. Thanks to those of you that recommended this. 
  • Ray Hopkin
    Ray HopkinOctober 13, 2025
    Again, insanely well acted by Delpy and Hawke. I don't think this is as enjoyable as the first two, mainly because of the hostilities shown to each other, but it is still impossible to not be drawn in and captivated by the ebbs and flow of the characters emotions. A great trilogy.

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