Richard Linklater finished shooting Before Midnight with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy last night

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

It boggles my mind that some movies can be made in a matter of days while others take months to complete, sometimes years. What makes my jaw drop is that just a few weeks ago, Ethan Hawke was discussing the possibility of a third movie to follow BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET, the indie romances starring him and Julie Delpy and directed by Richard Linklater. Today, Deadline is reporting that not only is the movie real but it has already finished filming. Last night, to be exact.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT follows the same plot of the first two films. Lovers Celine and Jesse meet and spend a short period of time talking and falling deeper into love. The films feel very unscripted and off the cuff, but you genuinely believe that Hawke and Delpy are romantically involved.

BEFORE SUNRISE was released in 1995 and followed the two as they met on a train headed to Vienna. The sequel, which was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2004, follows them as they meet 9 years later in Paris. BEFORE MIDNIGHT will find the pair in Greece, rekindling yet again.

The trio of Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke issued this statement: “It’s great to be back together again, this time in beautiful Greece to revisit the lives of Celine and Jesse nine years after Jesse was about to miss his flight.”

I am very much looking forward to seeing if this film lives up to its predecessors. All three feel like segments of a single film and I would watch these two actors play these roles until they reached retirement age.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week. A wide release will surely follow.