Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight (B) tells an austere, autumnal next chronicle in the romantic saga of Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s Jesse and Celine. This time it’s not all fun and games and wit and wordplay as we witness scenes from a marriage that is real and raw and may not still have much of the magic we remember from the young couple that met one night on a train nearly two decades ago. It is dramatic and tricky but sometimes a little stuck in its own rut. See it for the cannily observant viewpoints on keeping things fresh while aging together. And as fascinating as they are, let’s hope we’re not gearing up two more decades from now for a talky Amour featuring this duo.

Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset (B) reunites the spontaneous lovers played so memorably by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise. This time the conceit is that the roving conversation (this time in Paris) plays out in real time. It’s a bit more experiment than narrative continuation and only occasionally nails universal truths as before. But rarely do you get films with emotions laid this bare, and it’s fascinating to watch what Jesse and Celine will do next.

Midway through Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (A+), a character asks, “Isn’t everything we’re doing in life a way to be loved a little more?” Leading to discussions, revelations, and lingering meditations, this question is but one thread in a tapestry of character study. Sunrise is a celebration of human language that reveals more about its loquacious characters than any film targeted to twentysomethings in recent memory. An American man (Ethan Hawke) and French woman (Julie Delpy) meet on a European train and spend a night walking and talking through Vienna. Through debate, Q&A sessions with imaginary friends, frisky flirting and more, the two reveal more in a night than many do in a lifetime. The film is a funny, romantic and thoughtful ode to discovering your soulmate and then learning to communicate with them.