Before Sunset

(Richard Linklater, US 2004, 80 min., DCP)

Set nine years later, Jesse is now a successful novelist and is touring Europe with his new book, This Time, based on his experiences with Céline in Vienna. During his last stop in a Paris bookstore, Céline walks in and the two reconnect. Jesse has a plane to catch to return to his family in the United States, but he can’t pull himself away from his muse, so they wander Paris, catching up, arguing, and ruminating on the pain of missed opportunities. A continuation of the couple’s story that never betrays the existence or impact of the initial story, it is a uniquely successful sequel that contains a valid ending in its own right.