The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Before Midnight
Romance · Drama · 2013
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.
Movie details
Before Midnight
“Everything's better with maturity.”
2013 Romance · Drama 1h 49m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.9 / 10
183.2K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
98 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
94 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.5 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
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.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Before Midnight?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Your Fault: London
Romance · 2026
Nick and Noah are both embarking on life-changing adventures that are threatening to pull them apart—Nick in business with his father and Noah starting a fresh chapter at Oxford University. Now living separate lives, and meeting new people, they find themselves entangled in temptations, rivalries, and betrayals and their bond is tested like never before. As secrets unravel and temptation rises, they must fight to hold onto each other—or risk losing everything.
Life Itself
Drama · 2018
As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes.
The Dreamers
Drama · 2003
When Isabelle and Theo invite Matthew to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and everything is possible.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Romance · 2022
Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had good sex. Now that her husband has died, she is determined to take a tour of sexual vistas that until now she has only imagined. She even has a plan; it involves an anonymous hotel room, and a sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande.
The Lost Daughter
Drama · 2021
A woman's seaside vacation takes a dark turn when her obsession with a young mother forces her to confront secrets from her past.
All of You
Romance · 2025
Laura and Simon have been best friends since college. Over the years, they've realized their bond is more than platonic. Can they—and should they—risk everything to explore a love that has existed all along?
Miller's Girl
Thriller · 2024
A talented young writer embarks on a creative odyssey when her teacher assigns a project that entangles them both.
Blind
Drama · 2017
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
The Last Time I Saw Paris
Drama · 1954
Reporter Charles Wills, in Paris to cover the end of World War II, falls for the beautiful Helen Ellswirth following a brief flirtation with her sister, Marion. After he and Helen marry, Charles pursues his novelistic ambition while supporting his new bride with a deadening job at a newspaper wire service. But when an old investment suddenly makes the family wealthy, their marriage begins to unravel — until a sudden tragedy changes everything.
Love Me Love Me
Romance · 2026
After her brother's death, June moves to Milan for a fresh start, finding comfort in Will, the perfect honor student at her new international school. But when his troubled best friend James—hiding a dangerous life in clandestine MMA fights—sparks a rivalry that quickly turns into irresistible attraction, June must choose between safety and a love that upends everything she thought she wanted.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Richard Linklater
Written by
Richard Linklater · Julie Delpy · Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Jesse
Julie Delpy
Céline
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick
Hank
Jennifer Prior
Ella
Charlotte Prior
Nina
Xenia Kalogeropoulou
Natalia
Walter Lassally
Patrick
Court is in session
Put Before Midnight on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.