When you think of great movie trilogies, you probably think of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings adaptation. or the original Star Wars films - but if Richard Linklater's Before trilogy doesn't immediately spring to mind, you should definitely take some time to watch these incredible, deeply emotional and brilliantly shot films that center around two lovers at different times during their lives.

Based on a real life experience of Linklater (specifically, one night when he and a woman he had just met wandered around the city of Philadelphia and talked until the sun came up), the first film Before, 1995's aptly titled Before Sunrise. opens on a European train and introduces us to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). They both leave Budapest and, after striking up a conversation, both impulsively leave the train for Vienna, walking around the beautiful Austrian capital and talking about life, love, art and everything else. So how did a film of such a small scale become a trilogy, and what's the correct order (since none of the titles have numbers to help guide you)? The order, for your edification, is Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight, but let me get into a little more detail about what each film contains... and why there's a nine-year gap between each of the films. Before” by Linklater.

After spending an all-nighter and early morning together in Vienna in Before Sunrise, Jesse and Celine are forced to split up as Celine has to return to Paris to see her grandmother (and go back to school), but the two conclude a contract. and decided to meet at the same train station in Vienna in six months. Unfortunately, as we learn in Before Sunset, that doesn't happen; in the 2004 sequel, we meet Jesse and Celine again in Paris, as the former is reading his latest book at the city's famous bookstore Shakespeare & Co., and Celine, who lives in Paris, attends the reading (much to Jesse's surprise). . (Also, the book in question, This Time, is about their night in Vienna.) As the two ex-lovers explore a different European capital, the audience learns that Celine stood up for Jesse all those years ago, and that he waited in Vienna for her—though first he lies and says that he didn't lie either. (Céline's grandmother died, forcing her to stay in Paris.)

Despite the fact that Jesse is married with a child and Celine is dating a journalist in Paris, the relationship between the two is as strong as ever, and when it comes time for Jesse to head to the airport and fly back to America, he Instead, is located in Celine's apartment. The two don't head to the airport, proving that nine years after their first date, Jesse and Celine's relationship is unstoppable. In keeping with the nine years between Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the third film, Before Midnight, was also filmed and takes place nine years after the previous entry in the trilogy.

If Before Sunrise and Before Sunset offer incredibly romantic and heightened views of courtship, Before Midnight, made and set nine years after Jesse misses his flight in Celine's apartment, is a much more careful look at the couple's life together. By the time Before Midnight begins, Jesse and Celine are parents to twin girls — all while Jesse struggles to maintain a relationship with his son from his first marriage, Hank (Seamus Davy-Fitzpatrick), who lives in Chicago with his mother. Hank leaves Jesse, Celine and the girls in Greece at the start of the film and heads home as the two deal with some huge life decisions, including what's next for Celine's career... and when Jesse suggests that their family just moves to Chicago to be closer to Hank, a huge fight breaks out that seems like it's been going on for years.

Before Midnight is a raw, unflinching look at what's going on after of "happily ever after", and it is absolutely worth seeing; Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who also wrote all three Before movies with Richard Linklater, are great because they're self-created, lived-in characters who love each other but find themselves completely at odds. So, will there ever be a fourth "Before" movie? Linklater indicated that was a possibilitybut for now, fans have three perfect movies to watch (in the correct order).