Well, that pained and hurt came down like a heavy downpour. All illusions of eternal love, sacrifices and affection came to a standstill, when a simple hotel room conversation between a couple in Before Midnight rained havoc on all the fairy tale believers and leaves you with unforgiving cold reality.

I adored Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004) for their genuinely creative outlook towards relationships and what sails the boat in troubled rivers. And for a statement, I agree to have a zenith of emotions while watching Before Midnight (2013), the third in the series, for witnessing such a grander sense of maturity and scrupulousness while depicting love’s longevity.

It was never an easy watch, on the contrary, the moments from past came like waves of nostalgia when you least anticipated and left you teetering on the verge of a heartbreak on several occasions. If you think that misery and grief when love just vanishes between two people was agonizingly scrutinized in the magnificent Blue Valentine, then this will leave you breathless for its intensity and brutality.

Also Read: Before Sunrise [1995]: A Beautiful Love Poem

All hopes are not crushed for you know that there was romance; in an eccentric, bizarre, masked sort of a way; but romance there was in Before Midnight. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy shines yet again with natural flow of conversation and long shots from director Richard Linklater sets the bar high for the actors to deliver. Watch Julie Delpy in a scene when she says, “I used to sing, play guitar and write songs, I don’t get time to do it now”, and you will witness the astonishing commitment of the persons involved in making the moment sound so resonating and powerful.

One might feel this trilogy is an unprecedented ode to the power of affections but Before Midnight in all its essence exposed how fruitless it is to capture the ephemeral and fleeting nature of love. Mature, poignant and heartbreaking, Before Midnight is a deft masterstroke from Richard Linklater. 

★★★★½

(first published in www.udaipurtimes.com)