A beautifully observed, conversation-driven romance about timing, regret, and the possibility of love arriving too late. Its real power comes from the chemistry, the lived-in dialogue, and the way it turns a single afternoon into something emotionally enormous.
96% ★★★★★ (1,116,217)
Before Sunset
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Romance · R
2004 · 1h 20m · ★ 96% (1M)
What if you had a second chance with the one that got away?
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff
Overview
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.
Director
Richard Linklater
Production
Warner Independent Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment, Detour Filmproduction
Cast
Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff, Louise Lemoine Torrès, Rodolphe Pauly, Mariane Plasteig, Diabolo, Denis Evrard, Albert Delpy, Marie Pillet
Curator Review
Verdict
A beautifully observed, conversation-driven romance about timing, regret, and the possibility of love arriving too late. Its real power comes from the chemistry, the lived-in dialogue, and the way it turns a single afternoon into something emotionally enormous.
Best for
fans of intimate relationship dramas
viewers who like dialogue-heavy films
people drawn to bittersweet romance
audiences who appreciate real-time storytelling
fans of urban, walk-and-talk cinema
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy romance
you dislike long conversations and minimal action
you prefer clear-cut romantic resolutions
you need high melodrama or sweeping spectacle
Overview
Before Sunset is one of the great modern romances because it trusts conversation to do the work of confession, seduction, and self-reckoning. The film feels effortless, but every pause, glance, and half-finished thought carries emotional weight. Paris becomes less a postcard than a pressure cooker for two people trying to decide what their lives mean now that they’ve found each other again.
Worth noting
What makes it so affecting is that neither character is simply chasing a fantasy. They are older, compromised, and already attached to other lives, which gives the film a painful adult honesty. The writing is sharp without sounding written, and the performances make even the smallest exchanges feel like turning points.
Bottom line
This is a romance for viewers who value emotional realism over plot mechanics. It’s tender, funny, melancholy, and quietly devastating, with a final stretch that lingers long after it ends.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Timcop (4.5★) · 28582 likes
Turns out I've never had a conversation before.
Cramer K. (5★) · 17468 likes
There's a moment about halfway through Before Sunset that I can't get out of my mind. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are sitting in a Parisian café, and she lights up a cigarette. He's got the demeanor of a man who has quit smoking against his will (probably at the behest of a significant other, whom I'm guessing broke his spirit with the subtlest "I just want you to be healthy" psychological warfare imaginable), so he steals a
Sam Van Hallgren (5★) · 15213 likes
The first shot of Celine in the bookshop. The car ride when they nearly touch each other. The look on Celine's face as they walk up the stairs. Nina Simone. The whole f'ing thing.
#1 gizmo fan (5★) · 15206 likes
BABY, YOU ARE GONNA MISS THAT PLANE
sawah 🦖 (5★) · 10755 likes
not to be dramatic but I don’t think I’ve ever had a life experience
1964 · Drama, Romance · 1h 33m · PG-13 · Where to watch: Max
For lovers of romantic melancholy and the pain of timing, expressed with unforgettable style.
Themes
second chances, missed connections, time and memory, adult romance, emotional honesty, commitment and regret, urban wandering, conversation as intimacy