Filmmaker Richard Linklater introduced arthouse and indie movie audiences to a boyish American tourist named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and forward-thinking French woman named Celine (Julie Delpy) in his acclaimed 1995 'romance' flick Before Sunrise, then continued their story in real-time nine years later with Before Sunset - and this year, will finish (?) their continuing saga about finding love in modern times, with Before Midnight.

Linklater, Hawke and Delpy quietly (or secretly, if you prefer) shot Before Midnight overseas in Greece last summer, before the rest of the world found out about what they were up to. The film, like Sunset, picks up nine years after the last time we saw Hawke and Delpy playing lovers from opposite sides of the pond, who are now living a life together (with kids) and handling the challenges of middle-age - which includes the struggle to keep that romantic spark between them alive.

So, yeah, as I jokingly (emphasis on jokingly, folks) put it in this article's title: you can think of this as the 'This Is 40' installment in the Before... trilogy.

Jokes aside, those who've been waiting 18 years to see what eventually happens to Jesse and Celine after their first whirlwind day spent together, should find Before Midnight to be a gratifying viewing experience; not to mention, more than a little bittersweet (Hawke called it "ferocious" during our interview with him), when it comes to how this film addresses the realities of those characters' relationship.

Similarly, it'll be interesting to see how much (or, rather, how little) Linklater changes his directing approach, with respect to the realism he favored on previous installments (long-take sequences, natural dialogue, etc.). Writing credit once again belongs to Linklater, Hawke and Delpy, which means Before Midnight should be consistent with Sunrise and Sunset - by continuing that personal interpretation of how Jesse and Celine change (or not) over time.

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Before Midnight opens in theaters on May 24th, 2013.

Source: Yahoo! Movies