10 Movie Sequels Better Than The Original

9. Before Midnight

before midnight julie delpy ethan hawke
Sony Picture Classics

Richard Linklater's Before series has a strong claim to being the most perfect movie trilogy ever made, with every instalment at least as good as the last. Strong cases can be made for both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, but it's with Midnight that Linklater delivers the most mature, well-rounded movie of the three.

Before Sunrise is bursting with charm and romance, playing out like a longing sigh that would last for nine years. Before Sunset starts to give that more depth, and it's ocean-deep by the time of the third movie, which picks up with Céline and Jesse some 17 years after they first met.

Whereas the first two movies dealt more with their falling in love and falling in love again, this finds the pair as a married couple, although of course they're not completely settled. Through a series of long conversations it takes a microscope to love, marriage, and commitment, and what it means and takes to make those things work.

It feels even more authentic than the first two, showing the painful reality of life without ever losing the charm, humour, and intimacy that made us fall in love with them in the first place.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.