now live together with their children. The strains on their relationship come to a boil in an articulate, emotional, draining night of conversation for the ages.

There’s a hilarious sequence in Richard Linklater’s fantastic Before Midnight where Julie Delpy’s Celine teasingly (or perhaps not so teasingly) suggests that Ethan Hawke’s Jesse would prefer her to be a vapid bimbo, and she imitates one, curling her hair and adopting a Marilyn Monroe tone, mouthing inanities. It’s a very funny bit, but it’s also a bit of cognitive dissonance to see Celine, who we’ve come to know so well over three movies, even pretending to be so flighty. The same could be said for Julie Delpy herself; it’s not until you see her subverting that bombshell eprsona that you fully appreciate the position she’s come to occupy in cinema—beautiful, yes, but also tough as nails, potent, not one to suffer fools gladly (or at all). And there’s so much more to Delpy’s subtle performance here; while in the first film (Before Sunrise) she was wise far beyond her years (and far beyond Hawke’s Jesse), and in the second film (Before Sunset) she was a neurotic mess in obvious need of saving, here, as a middle-aged woman, she’s learned to cope with her life better. She probably even does actually have a lot more peace than her mid-thirties self did. But there are still major issues lurking deep inside, and Delpy deftly plays them without ever completely bringing them to the surface.

An early scene holds on one perfectly acted two-shot in a car for 13 minutes. The discussions are often as hilarious as they are engaging. Hangups, regrets and doubts have have become a greater part of Jesse and Celine’s lives, and the film reflects that. But it also reminds us what made the couple such a lovable pair that they could hold our interest for 20 years.