Before Sunset (2004)

Before Sunset (2004) reunites Jesse, an American novelist, and Celine, a French environmentalist, nine years after their chance romantic encounter in Vienna. When Jesse, now promoting a bestselling book inspired by that night, spots Celine in a Paris bookstore, they spend the remaining hours before his flight walking the city and talking. What unfolds is a single-day, largely real-time conversation that revisits their shared past, examines how time and choices have changed them, and asks whether the connection that once felt possible can survive the intervening years. A viewer can expect a quietly intense, dialogue-driven drama. The film relies on naturalistic performances and long, intimate takes rather than plot twists or visual spectacle—most of the "action" is the verbal back-and-forth between the two leads. The tone moves between witty banter, philosophical debate, flirtation and painful honesty; laughter and tenderness sit alongside regret and unresolved longing. Paris provides a lyrical backdrop, but it’s the emotional geography between Jesse and Celine that matters most. If you like character studies, romantic realism, and films that linger on conversation and nuance, Before Sunset is rewarding: it feels like eavesdropping on two people sorting out their lives. The pacing is deliberate, the dialogue sharp and revealing, and the ending is emotionally charged and open-ended—leaving viewers to sit with the characters’ choices and what might come next.

Actors: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Vernon Dobtcheff

Director: Richard Linklater

Runtime: 80 min

Genres: Drama, Romance

7.3 /10 91 /100 8.1 /10 8.2 /10