Before Sunrise is one of 1995's best films, one of the most honest and romantic love stories ever put to film, as an American man (Ethan Hawke) and French woman (Julie Delpy) meet on a train, decide to spend the day together, and fall for one another. Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan's script understands the essence of its characters, and specifically the time-limited nature of their scenario, leaving viewers to an agonising cliffhanger that most audiences nevertheless assumed would be the end of the matter, cinematically speaking. In 2004, however, Linklater re-teamed with Delpy and Hawke for Before Sunset, a film which follows nearly the same formula but with a few changes to extraordinary success. Once again, Delpy and Hawke's characters meet by chance, this time with a time limit of barely over an hour, which unfolds essentially in real time, with the characters again nattering to each other for the entirety of the run-time. What makes this a superior sequel isn't just the evocative cinematography, but the deft characterisation; we can see how the characters have changed, and it holds up a mirror to real life. When the time runs out, there's a gut-wrenching ultimatum, though thankfully it doesn't leave viewers in the lurch once again. Before Midnight, the third and presumably final film in the series, is due for release this year, after opening to ecstatic reviews at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Who knows, maybe the film can join the ranks of The Bourne Ultimatum as a superior threequel?