Before Sunset

Before Sunset

What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?

R 2004 · 80 min · ★ 7.8 (4K) · Drama, Romance

Nine years later, Jesse travels across Europe giving readings from a book he wrote about the night he spent in Vienna with Celine. After his reading in Paris, Celine finds him, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse has to again leave for a flight. They are both in relationships now, and Jesse has a son, but as their strong feelings for each other start to return, both confess a longing for more.

Directed by Richard Linklater · Written by Richard Linklater

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Ethan Hawke Jesse
Julie Delpy Céline
Vernon Dobtcheff Bookstore Manager
Louise Lemoine Torrès Journalist #1
Rodolphe Pauly Journalist #2
Mariane Plasteig Waitress
Diabolo Philippe
Denis Evrard Boat Attendant
Albert Delpy Man at Grill
Marie Pillet Woman in Courtyard

Make it a double feature

3h 27m together

Before Sunset

Good Will Hunting

Both from Richard Linklater.

Before... CollectionSee all →

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise · 1995

MovieDramaRomance

An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight · 2013

Before Midnight

MovieRomanceDrama

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 at 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.

More from Richard LinklaterSee all →

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting · 1997

Good Will Hunting

Will Hunting is a headstrong, working-class genius who is failing the lessons of life. After one too many run-ins with the law, Will's last chance is a psychology professor, who might be the only man who can reach him.

Up to Speed

Up to Speed · 2012

SeriesComedyReality

Tour guide, historian and flaneur "Speed" Levitch travels the nation visiting those monuments that rarely make it into travel guides, from the shoe gardens of San Francisco to the luckiest subway grate in New York City.

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise · 1995

MovieDramaRomance

An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight · 2013

Before Midnight

MovieRomanceDrama

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 at 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.

Boyhood

Boyhood · 2014

The film tells a story of a divorced couple trying to raise their young son. The story follows the boy for twelve years, from first grade at age 6 through 12th grade at age 17-18, and examines his relationship with his parents as he grows.

Waking Life

Waking Life · 2001

MovieAnimationDrama

Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.

Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused · 1993

Dazed and Confused

MovieComedyDrama

The adventures of a group of Texas teens on their last day of school in 1976, centering on student Randall Floyd, who moves easily among stoners, jocks and geeks. Floyd is a star athlete, but he also likes smoking weed, which presents a conundrum when his football coach demands he sign a "no drugs" pledge.

Nouvelle Vague

Nouvelle Vague · 2025

MovieComedyDrama

After writing for Cahiers du cinéma, young Godard decides making films is the best film criticism. He gets Beauregard to fund a low-budget feature, creating a treatment with Truffaut about a gangster couple.

The School of Rock

The School of Rock · 2003

The School of Rock

MovieComedyFamily

Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his straight-A students the finer points of rock 'n' roll and the power of sticking it to the man. But as the school’s stern principal closes in and the Battle of the Bands looms, Dewey must risk everything to prove that rock 'n' roll can change lives.

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood · 2022

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

MovieAnimationComedy

A man narrates stories of his life as a 10-year-old boy in 1969 Houston, weaving tales of nostalgia with a fantastical account of a journey to the moon.

A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly · 2006

A Scanner Darkly

MovieAnimationScience Fiction

An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Hit Man

Hit Man · 2024

MovieComedyRomance

A mild-mannered professor moonlighting as a fake hit man in police stings ignites a chain reaction of trouble when he falls for a potential client.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America · 1996

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

MovieAnimationComedy

Slacker duo Beavis and Butt-Head wake to discover their TV has been stolen. Their search for a new one takes them on a clueless adventure across America, during which they manage to accidentally become America's most wanted.

Blue Moon

Blue Moon · 2025

MovieMusicHistory

On the evening of March 31, 1943, legendary lyricist Lorenz Hart confronts his shattered self-confidence in Sardi’s bar as his former collaborator, Richard Rodgers, celebrates the opening night of his ground-breaking hit musical, “Oklahoma!”

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Where'd You Go, Bernadette · 2019

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

MovieComedyDrama

When architect-turned-recluse Bernadette Fox goes missing prior to a family trip to Antarctica, her 15-year-old daughter, Bee, goes on a quest with Bernadette's husband to find her.

Bernie

MovieComedyCrime

In small-town Texas, affable and popular mortician Bernie Tiede strikes up a friendship with Marjorie Nugent, a wealthy widow well known for her sour attitude. When she becomes controlling and abusive, Bernie goes to great lengths to remove himself from her grasp.

More Like This

Drive My Car

Drive My Car · 2021

Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.

A Very Long Engagement

A Very Long Engagement · 2004

A Very Long Engagement

MovieDramaRomance

Young Frenchwoman Mathilde searches for the truth about her missing fiancé, lost during World War I, and learns many unexpected things along the way. The love of her life is gone. But she refuses to believe he's gone forever — and she needs to know for sure.

The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers · 1973

The Three Musketeers

MovieActionAdventure

In 17th century France, young D'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

Hunting & Gathering

Hunting & Gathering · 2007

Hunting & Gathering

MovieRomanceDrama

When Camille falls ill, she is forced to live with Philibert and Franck.

An Angel at My Table

An Angel at My Table · 1990

An Angel at My Table

MovieDramaHistory

Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.

As Good as It Gets

As Good as It Gets · 1997

As Good as It Gets

MovieDramaComedy

A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane · 2007

MovieRomanceDrama

Though young Jane Austen's financially strapped parents expect her to marry the nephew of wealthy Lady Gresham, Jane herself knows that such a union will destroy her creativity and sense of self-worth. Instead, she becomes involved with Tom Lefroy, a charming but penniless apprentice lawyer who gives her the knowledge of the heart she needs for her future career as a novelist.

Deconstructing Harry

Deconstructing Harry · 1997

Deconstructing Harry

MovieComedyDrama

Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.

In the Mouth of Madness

In the Mouth of Madness · 1995

In the Mouth of Madness

MovieHorrorMystery

An insurance investigator visits a small town while looking into the strange disappearance of a popular horror novelist. He soon finds that the impact of the author’s books is far more than inspirational.

Irma la Douce

Irma la Douce · 1963

MovieRomanceComedy

When a recently fired policeman falls in love with a French prostitute, he doesn't want her to be with other men, so he creates an alter-ego in order to become her only customer.

Pierrot le Fou

Pierrot le Fou · 1965

MovieDramaRomance

Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.

Adaptation.

Adaptation. · 2002

MovieComedyCrime

Charlie Kaufman is a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman and Orlean's book become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the other's.

The Lovers on the Bridge

The Lovers on the Bridge · 1991

The Lovers on the Bridge

MovieDramaRomance

Set against Paris' oldest bridge, the Pont Neuf, while it was closed for repairs, this film is a love story between two young vagrants: Alex, a would be circus performer addicted to alcohol and sedatives and Michele, a painter driven to a life on the streets because of a failed relationship and an affliction which is slowly turning her blind.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter