Before Midnight

The Brattle - the first time I watched Sunrise I was with my ex, the first love of my life, sitting in my bed and asking each other the same questions Jesse and Celine asked each other. A few months later I went abroad and we broke up. I ended up having a similar one nite with a Canadian girl in Thailand. Unlike Jesse and Celine, we stayed in touch. We added each other on socials, shared music, talked about movies we liked and eventually it fizzled out. This is the reality of this era, one that makes me always wonder if I should’ve been born 20 years earlier.  When I watched Sunset for the first time, I had waited a few years. I understood the reason Linklater waited almost 10 years between each movie so I wanted to give the second an appropriate gap. To be honest, I waited until I was fully over that first love, which took almost 2 full years. I wanted to go into it with a clean slate but I believe I was too early for it then too. But then I rewatched it late last year and finally understood the story they were trying to tell. I finally caught up to Jesse and Celine. I understood the idea of time passing in your twenties when you think you have all the time in the world. I also started to understand the idea of thinking you’ll meet all these people you think you’ll have a connection with and realizing that it’s a lot more rare than we believe.  As of today I am 26 years old. Since watching the first movie I feel as if I’ve lived 10 lives. I’ve never had kids and I’ve never been in a relationship longer than 6 months. But since then I think I finally understand what love is. What sacrifice is. What hardship is. I purposely waited to watch this last one until I knew I was mature and grown enough to truly understand the story. We love despite - and I think that is so very clear after seeing this. It’s about being with someone you can meet at the same level and be able to communicate. When all else fails that’s all that matters.  I’m so thankful for this trilogy and I’m glad I waited to watch this final chapter.