The third, presumably final, instalment in Richard Linklater’s ‘Before’ trilogy finds Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) chirpily introspective in Greece. Eighteen years have passed since they first met on a train in Vienna, nine since they walked toward a Parisian sunset. Now the formerly free and easy lovers are married with two kids of their own, another from Jesse’s previous marriage and find themselves wrestling with first-world struggles: parenthood, careers and most troublesome of all, feelings.

Sticking close to what has been a winning formula, Linklater keeps a firm focus on the couple as a Greecian holiday comes to an end and their ‘real’ life in Paris looms large. As before, they talk, a lot, about where they’re at and where they want to be: about what crappy parents they are, about their future and about how all of this is going to undo their relationship. At least, Celine does. Jesse is more pragmatic about his part in the everyday turbulence of life, and he has a point. The relative success of both their lives (strong careers, happy kids, holidays in Greece) should leave Celine with little to worry about. But of course she does, she’s French.

And therein the joy or frustration of Before Midnight, depending on your taste for introspection. There are many delightful moments as their not unreasonable concerns grow unreasonably quickly and unreasonably out of hand, forcing a dramatic, romantic showdown on the shores of the Agean. Linklater commands the material, location and his supporting cast admirably as the story oscillates between charming, funny, knowing and frustrating. As the couple work toward their emotional meltdown, the loving nature of the film, and Linklater clearly adores his characters, is winning even if the build up of endless chat leaves you reaching for the mute button come the final reel.

// COLIN FRASER

Previewed at Sony Theatrette, Sydney on 4 July 2013